


Run Like the Devil's Behind You

by signsoflight



Series: Team Human [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Cora Hale, Alive Erica Reyes, Alive Vernon Boyd, Allison Argent & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Allison Lives, Allison gives the hugs, BAMF Allison, BAMF Lydia Martin, BAMF Stiles, Betrayal, Cora Hale & Derek Hale - Freeform, Cora Hale & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Erica Reyes & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Everyone Is Alive, Everyone Needs A Hug, Femslash, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Isaac Lahey & Erica Reyes Friendship, Isaac Lahey & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Lydia needs a hug, MY BROTPS, Magical Bond, Magical Lydia Martin, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Multi, Scott McCall is a Bad Alpha, Scott is a Bad Friend, Stiles Leaves Beacon Hills, Stiles Leaves the Pack, Stiles Needs a Hug, Stiles is Pushed Out of the Pack, Team Dynamics, Team Human, Team Human-ish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-11 14:23:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5629606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/signsoflight/pseuds/signsoflight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stiles discovers the true amount of power that he has and decides to stand up for himself against Scott and how he is treated by his 'best friend', who wants him out of the pack, it ends with Allison, Lydia and Stiles fleeing the state and deciding that they're better off without the pack. And the remaining members of the pack lose any sense of trust and respect that Scott had held over them.</p><p>Oops?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Alessia Cara's Outlaws. Apologies for any mistakes and errors.

Stiles zipped his blue and black backpack closed with a tired sigh. He cast a glance toward the empty bare walls of his room that had been so full of life - posters, pictures, notes, all the things that made his room his. Next he regarded the clear floor that had been strewn with clothes, books, video games, food and work, checking for any small things that he had missed in his frantic packing frenzy. Finally, with shaking hands, Stiles sifted through the things in his bag, careful not to disturb it but wanting to make sure he had everything he needed. 

In a last ditch attempt to hold on to everything that he had here, in Beacon Hills, with his dad and all his memories, he checked his phone for any messages from the pack about what had happened. But the empty lock screen of his phone glared up at him, the light harsh in the dark of his room. 

Locking his phone with a sigh, Stiles thought back to the events that led to him clutching his escape bag and his room empty, dark and bare.

\-- -- -- -- -- -- 

Stiles whistled along to the cheery tune blaring out of his jeep’s radio as his drove down to the pack meeting, psyching himself up so that they would detect the doubt, unease and sadness that seemed to radiate off him these days. 

The pack had barely talked to him in the past three months and this was the first pack meeting in four months. Which was strange as they normally have them every week. But every time that one of the pack mentioned that the meeting wasn’t on Stiles just nodded his head and continued on with his day, ignoring the growing suspicion that there were meetings, he just wasn’t considered pack anymore. Then Deaton had discovered the spark inside of him, and realised just how powerful he was. 

It turned out that Stiles was a mage, one of the most powerful supernatural creatures and had astonishing abilities. He was now being trained by a friend of Chris Argent who was a low level mage and didnt have the same amount of power that Stiles held, but helped him begin master his abilities and supplied him with enough books on spells to be in complete control of himself and his abilities. 

However, he hadn’t had the chance to tell the pack the news, and could barely wait to see the look on Scott’s face. Maybe the news would truly cement his precarious place in the pack. Because if his friends had payed enough attention to him, they would have noticed that the way Stiles carried himself had changed completely as well as his fashion sense. He was now confident and didn’t have the nervous tics he previously had. And as for his clothes, well, it turns out Lydia and Allison were far more observant than the werewolves of their little group and had immediately picked up on the change in Stiles as well as the sense of power that now surrounded him. So he was forced on a shopping spree with the girls, giving him a completely new wardrobe to match his new power. 

When Isaac had told him to come over for the meeting that night he cheerfully agreed - his unease and doubt intensifying a tenfold. Nerves made his heart pound and Stiles was sure that all the werewolves instantly knew that he was hiding something. He could barely wait for the meeting despite his nerves on top of his anxiety. Nonetheless, he drove home after his last class and began to cook up a feast for his pack members, knowing that they wouldn't have thought to bring nearly enough food for six werewolves, a banshee and a hunter and that wasn't even including Stiles, who ate almost as much as the werewolves did.

So Stiles made his way to the door with his arms laden with heavenly smelling homemade food, which should have given away his arrival to his fellow pack members. Which is why when Stiles entered the room he was surprised to see Scott stop what he was saying and stop dead.

“Stiles, get out. You’re not pack. You don’t belong here. Just go home.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Scott?! You have been best friends for a decade. Why the fuck would you kick out the one person who has been there for you no matter what. Through it all he had your back the entire time and Stiles has saved our asses, both as individuals and as a pack, more than you ever have!”

“Allison why are you fighting me on this?! You really think that Stiles should be pack? How can he help us? What is his value? Nothing! He is worthless and defenseless. We don’t need him and he is only holding us back!”

Stiles heart dropped, along with his jaw. Not only was he being kicked out but Scott was the one doing it. He would have thought that their ten years of friendship meant more to the shaggy haired boy than this. Stiles was being completely excluded from the group of people that he had given up everything for.

“He has saved you from dying at least 5 times, with no concern for his own safety because he wants to protect us! All of us! Sure he is human but his research skills are fantastic and he is just as smart as Lydia. Without him all of us would be dead and all our love ones would be dead too. If you kick Stiles out then I’m leaving the pack too!” 

Allison’s words shocked Stiles, who never realised that the hunter held such a high opinion of him. The speech about his worth and his skills warmed his heart but he knew that the alpha would never let the girl go. She was too valuable. 

“Why?” 

His voice was strong and clear, despite how broken he felt. 

“Same goes for me Scott. Stiles is far too important to kick out of the pack. Not only would you be losing the person who cares about you the most, you would be losing one of the best researchers and one of the smartest people I ever seen. I am not ashamed to admit that Stiles intelligence, intuition and thinking under pressure is equal if not above my own so getting rid of him is not only a dick move but completely illogical. If Stiles and Allison go, so do I”

Despite the harsh sting of betrayal, it felt amazing to hear the strongest women he knew defend and praise him and his abilities. Lydia had been his crush for years before Stiles snapped out of his lovestruck daze. After he apologised to Lydia about how creepy he may have seemed, the two became a powerful team and close friends.

Suddenly something broke in Stiles. A fire was unleashed inside of him, filling him with not only sorrow but fury and a determination to show what he was truly made of.

“Oh Scotty. You truly have no idea, do you.” Stiles laughed darkly, before turning to face a very worried and concerned pair of girls. “Allison, Lydia, you have no idea how grateful I am for what you said. You and your friendship and support mean a lot to me, especially as my so-called best friend hasn’t done the things you have done for me. If you truly meant that you would leave the pack -”

“Of course we did, Stiles. Scott, consider yourself without a banshee, a hunter and a very valuable human.” Lydia gave Stiles a warm grin before shooting Scott a dirty look along with her words.

“Ah actually about that.” Stiles began. “Turns out that I’m not human. When the Nogitsune possessed me, he jumpstarted a part of me that had been dormant since birth. I am a mage. I possess the most power in the supernatural world and I am no low level mage either. Let’s just say that compared to me, Merlin from King Arthur’s time was like a child. A very small one. So smart move little Scotty, because combining Lydia’s and my powers, we could destroy Beacon Hills in the blink of an eye and destroy New York with the wave of a hand. So consider yourself without the most powerful pair of magic wielders the supernatural world has ever seen and the only hunter skilled enough to aid, protect and companion us. Because together, Team Human-ish will crush anyone who stands in our way.”

At that, Stiles strode out of the room with Lydia and Allison right by his side. Scott’s jaw was on the floor and he stuttered out a “Wait Stiles. Shit, just come back! Consider what you’re doing. You need us!”

As soon as the group was in the jeep, Stiles slammed the pedal down, speeding down the road away from the pack that they just left shocked and scared of Stiles’s and how he might make them pay for how they treated him.

“Umm Stiles?” Allison’s voice came from the back seat.  
“Yeah?” Stiles replied.

“Please pull over. Your hands are shaking, we are going far too fast and I think I should drive.”

Stiles let out a shaky shy and pulled over.

“Good idea.”

\-- -- -- -- -- --

Stiles crawled out of his window and jumped down to the grass below. He jumped into his jeep and pulled away quietly and smoothly in an effort to not wake up his dad. Soon enough he pulled up in front of Lydia’s house and gave the designated signal, two flashes of his torch at her bedroom window. In a flash, Lydia had jumped down to the ground beside Stiles.

“You ready?” He asked the redheaded girl beside him as they stood looking sadly at the house where Lydia had grown up. Whilst the three of them had been planning their escape plan, he had made sure that the girls were 100% sure about ditching their families and friends to flee the state. They both told him that they would be with him through it all and that he couldn’t leave without them.

Lydia gave him a sad smile and slipped her hand into his. After she was done saying her silent goodbyes, she allowed him to drag her away to his jeep, and they headed off to Allison’s house. 

They repeated the process, with flashing the signal and making sure that they were all ready to do this. Once they had agreed on the final plan, they loaded the jeep with the little bags they had and set off to their new lives.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry about any characters that haven't been introduced yet - like Derek. They will come in when they come in and it will make sense in the story. Also the POV's in each chapter will vary - for example this one is Allison but Chapter One was Stiles

The orange light of the street lamps that lined the deserted roads cast a shadow over the friends’ faces. They were all too wound up about what had happened at the pack meeting to sleep. 

Allison was driving, with a white knuckled grip on the wheel of Stiles's dusty blue jeep, and had been for the five hours they had been driving for so far. They were planning to ditch the jeep as soon as they had gotten far away enough from Beacon Hills as it was too noticeable. All three of them were minors and were now runaways in the eyes of the law. 

And in the eyes of the pack, Allison admitted to herself. There was no way that if they ever came back to Beacon Hills, that Scott would consider letting them re-join the pack.

Of course none of the three teens wanted to go back to the pack, but it had been a long time since they were not a part of the group of friends. It would be hard without that support. 

But, as Allison glanced at Stiles in the mirror, who sat in the backseat with his long legs stretched out, occasionally flicking his hand and conjuring up a small orange fireball in his hand before extinguishing it, maybe they didn’t need the fickle and unreliable support that Scott offered. 

Maybe, by being in this new team, they would have a far better time on their own, without being underestimated by the others just because they were not werewolves. If anything, they were far stronger than their canine friends. After all, all three of them had managed to keep up, help and save the people who were supposed to have enhanced abilities. 

Allison glanced at Lydia, who was staring stonily at the raindrops trickling down the window. There was a certain glint in her eyes that made her wonder what was going through her head. With a stab of anxiety, Allison wondered if Lydia regretted leaving Beacon Hills and everything that she had there. 

After all, Lydia had Little Miss Popularity, the most sought after girl in school and had a promising degree and career in Maths and Science ahead of her at some of the most competitive schools in the country. Allison wouldn’t blame her if she was reconsidering the choice that she had made. But then Lydia looked over at her and shot her a warm smile, holding out her hand. She gladly took it, intertwining their fingers, comforted by the knowledge that her Lydia was there with her and she wasn’t going anywhere soon. 

Six hours later into the long and tedious drive to a state as far away from California as they could get, Allison was beginning to fall asleep at the wheel. The sun was starting to rise, painting the sky in pink and orange hues, setting the whole world alight and Lydia’s hair on fire.

“How about we go to IHOP for breakfast, guys? I could do with some food.” Allison broke the silence that had settled over the three of them.  
Stiles nodded numbly and Allison shot him a kind smile. His amber eyes had dark shadow underneath them and his hands were twitchy from sitting still for so long. As they had driven along the empty roads, she had noticed him drift off once or twice but never looking very peaceful in his rest. She guessed that nightmares of what happened with the Nogitsune still haunted him and they probably would for a while. She couldn’t imagine how that felt, knowing that something he couldn’t control and that he wished never happened, most likely had a large part in Scott’s and the pack’s growing distaste for him.

The three trooped warily into the dinner but not before Allison had tucked a knife into her boot and concealed her bow and arrow under jacket. She knew that no matter how far away they got from McCall territory, many packs would still recognise them and associate them with the famed True Alpha that had come into power. 

So Allison made sure that she was prepared for any wolves deciding to target them to get a shot at hurting their former alpha. She kept Lydia and Stiles close to her side as they walked in and quickly scoped out the people in there. It appeared to mainly consist of truckers and the occasional family on a holiday road trip.

They made their way to an empty booth in the corner of the room. Allison slid in first, followed by Lydia and finally Stiles, whose leg instantly began to bounce up and down betraying the nervousness and anxiety he felt at being so far away from home. Stiles signalled for a waitress to come over to the group, giving her a nervous smile as she approached.

“Hi, um, can we please order?”

“Of course. What can I get you kids?” The waitress’s voice was kind with a warm tone to it.

“I’ll have the Strawberry Banana Pancakes please.” Lydia’s order was brisk and to the point.

“I’ll have the Crepes with Nutella please” Allison gave her a smile.

“And may I please have the Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Thanks very much.” Stiles gave his order to the waitress before collecting the menus and passing them to the waitress.

“Alright, your food should arrive in maximum 15 minutes. Would you guys like any drinks?”

“Just a jug of water for the table, please.” At Lydia’s words, the waitress made her way towards the trucker with a thick Southern accent that had just called her over. 

As soon as the group was sure that the waitress and the trucker were out of earshot, Lydia unfolded a map and took out a red marker. 

“I think that we should make our way as far away from California as possible. That way we have less of a chance of being recognised by potential enemies and people who would recognise us as part of the McCall pack.” Lydia got straight to business, not wasting any time. She reached out over the map and marked a large red cross over California. “So right now we are in Nevada, so I propose that we find a town and some temporary jobs for a week and stay in a motel. Then we move on. And we keep doing this until we find a town where we are happy and where we are close enough to people who can regularly restock the supplies that Stiles and I will need for our magic.”

It was clear from the plan that the redhead had proposed to the rest of the group that she had been thinking this over for the drive from Beacon Hills. 

“I think that that’s a great plan, Lydia, but what kind of jobs would we get?” Allison asked

“Anything. We could definitely get jobs in something like construction, the training with the pack has made us strong enough to handle that” Stiles chipped in.

And so it continued for the next hour, the three teens huddled over the fold up road map and talking in low hushed voices. Their conversation only broke when Allison noticed the waitress was beginning to make her way over to their table with the pancakes they had ordered. By the time the waitress had made it within earshot of their conversation, they had quickly started talking about something much more stereotypical of their age - whether or not Rachel and Ross were a better couple than Chandler and Monica.

The waitress - Jenny, as it read on her name badge pinned to her uniform - chuckled as she caught what we were saying.

“Personally, I always thought that Joey and Phoebe would be a good couple.” She said as she started placing our plates of pancakes in front of us.

“Not at all! The two of them together would break and mess everything up!” Stiles exclaimed, his hands tapping against the table incessantly.

“But they would be so cute together!” Lydia countered. Allison internally smiled as Stiles began to argue back and forth with Lydia and Jenny, getting genuinely into to the topic. It was good to see him begin to act like his old self - getting into debates about pointless things. Of course it would be long way to go till he was like the old Stiles and he would never be exactly the same as the hyperactive boy she knew who would sacrifice everything for his family and friends. 

Allison realised that he would definitely change now that he had gained access to his powers. Already the way he carried himself as he walked around had changed, Stiles no longer looked like he wanted to run and hide. It was a good change, Allison thought. And his new style of clothes looked great on him. The dark blue henley and fitting jeans were much better than baggy layers, plaid shirts and layers. 

But not everything about the boy had changed for the better. Stiles was looking the thinnest he had been for months and it was obvious that the gradual not-so-subtle exclusion from the pack had been affecting him since the beginning. His anxiety must have worsened as he probably felt that he had nowhere to turn with even his best friend rejecting him. The nightmares probably got even worse and all the while the pack was concerned with their petty little problems. 

It was then, looking at what had become of the boy she met a year and a half ago, that Allison vowed to never let him feel alone again. 

Soon enough, the pancakes were all gone and they had a definite plan. Whilst they were walking through the door, Lydia had a sudden idea. 

“Jenny!” At the sound of her name, the waitresses head popped out from behind the counter. 

“Yes?” She looked at Lydia expectantly. 

“We are looking for some jobs. Just for a week or two. Would it be possible for us to get some temporary employment here before moving on next week?”

Jenny looked at the three teenagers, with their full backpacks and the hard, battle ready looks in their eyes. It was clear, even to a complete stranger, that these kids had been through some shit. And Jenny knew exactly what that was like.

She regarded the three with a sympathetic gaze.

“Sure. I ended up here because I ran away too. I’ll see what I can do. I assume you will keep moving on to different states after this week here?”

Lydia continued to take the lead, with Allison and Stiles standing behind her.

“You guessed correctly. We just want some easy cash to get back on our feet before we go to any big cities.”

“I’ll bring the boss out, but he’ll say yes for sure. I’ll give you the number of a local motel and you guys can book a room for the week.”

“Thanks so much Jenny. We’re really grateful. Oh and I’m Lydia and this is Stiles and Allison” She pointed to her two friends as she said there names before accepting the piece of paper from Jenny and dialling the number scrawled on it. 

Once the room was booked and their jobs were agreed with the manager, they made their way to their motel. It was a bit grubby and run down but the conditions were decent enough and it was cheap. 

Once they were situated in their room, they began with the execution of their plan. Stiles made a digital version of the plan they had on the road map to plan ahead for roads and driving times and where they would stop on his laptop. 

After that was done, Lydia used the laptop to download coding material and instructions to help keep Stiles from going too hyperactive on slow days and to widen all three of their skill sets.

Finally Lydia and Stiles moved on to making a note of all the magical materials and ingredients they had brought and what they still needed. Once that was done they started practicing some simple spells that required two magic users out of one of the books Stile had been given from Chris’ friend. 

Nothing exploded so mission success. 

Allison watched in awe as the two of them created amazing things with their combined magic, whether it was fireballs, protective shields or making things levitate. 

By the end of the night, all three of them were exhausted and curled up in the double bed together, missing the puppy piles from the pack. But they fell asleep before they could dwell on thoughts of the pack.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is some violence in this chapter, but it's not too graphic.

The morning light streamed into Lydia’s face, the bright light blinding her as she blinked her eyes open. Stiles legs were intertwined with hers but the three were so used to cuddling and sharing beds that it didn’t faze them anymore. She knew that Stiles’ crush on her was long gone and it had come to the point where she would put her life in the boy’s hands without a second thought.

Not her credit card though. That boy had no sense of style.

Allison had an arm draped over Lydia, pulling her to the taller girl’s chest. Her pale leg was resting against Stiles’ foot and the three of them basically looked like a pretzel. She could feel Allison’s chest against her back and lay there for a few moments, taking comfort in her warmth and the feeling of her heartbeat against her chest. When Allison had been stabbed, Lydia had felt her world falling apart, all of the pieces of her heart littering the ground around her. She didn't know what she would do without the brunette. After all, she had been her best friend since she moved to Beacon Hills and had helped Lydia through the supernatural world despite her own personal stuff, like her mom’s death. 

All these thoughts ran through her head before she shook them away. It was way past time to get up. They had things to do, people to deceive. Just as Lydia was beginning to untangle herself from the other three, Allison let out a low, raspy groan and tightened her grip on the red head. A blush began to appear on Lydia’s cheeks and she silently thanked any god that was actually out there that she was the only one awake.

“Ooh Lydia’s blushing!!” A sing-song voice came from beside her in the bed. 

She took it back. She wasn’t going to thank them for this. 

“Shut it Stiles” Lydia groan with her pretty features contorted into a scowl that she directed at the brunette boy.

“Oh, has Lydia got a crush?!” Stiles sat up quickly, filled with glee at finding out about the redhead’s feelings towards her best friend.

“Stiles I swear on my life that if you don’t stop yapping this instant you won’t live to work at IHOP today.”

Stiles’ eyes widened comically. “Crap! Are we late for work?”

Lydia quickly checked her watch and breathed a sigh of relief. “No, we’ve got over an hour until we need to be there for our first shift. Be prepared, we have signed up for the maximum amount of shifts the manager would let us. We need to earn as much money as possible in the week that we are here so we can get as far away as possible.”

A dark look crossed over the boy’s face as she mentioned getting far away. Lydia could tell that thoughts of what had happened ran through his head. She shot him an apologetic and sympathetic smile before turning to the still sleeping hunter.

“Allison! Come on we need to get up now.” Lydia said in a brisk tone, and making it crystal clear that she would have no regrets about pushing the two of them on to the floor of their motel room if they didn't comply to her commands.

“Lyds,” A sleepy groan escaped the taller girl’s lips and she only burrowed further into the bed covers.

Stiles turned to Lydia and matching wicked smirks appeared on their faces before Stiles lept out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. Moments later he appeared, with two glasses of water clutched in his pale hands. Bowing exaggeratedly, he handed the glasses to Lydia, letting her do the honors.

With a small chuckle, Lydia threw the ice cold water in the two glasses all over Allison. She laughed as the older girl sat up spluttering and completely soaked through. She looked disbelievingly at the two teens before her, before shaking her head and grinning at the sight of the two smiling and laughing properly - probably for the first time since they left California. 

Once all three of them were showered and ready for the day of tedious work ahead, they set out, having decided that walking the short distance to the IHOP where they had their new jobs was probably the best idea.

“I had a thought, guys” Lydia announced about halfway through their walk. “We need to use some of the money that we get from these jobs to get fake ID’s, and new phones. I don’t know about you but I really don’t like the idea of the pack being able to find out where we are through things we could have changed. I still have my credit card so we can use that to get the fake ID’s and anything else to help us change our identities but still have a good chance of settling down somewhere when we eventually want to.”

Allison sent Lydia a warm smile and said “I think that that’s a great idea Lydia. We’ve got to make sure that they have no chance of finding us,”

Lydia blushed violently again, hating the fact that her heart starting beating just that little bit faster. She told herself to calm down, that Allison told her she had good ideas and that she was smart all the time, there was no reason to react like that to such a simple comment. Especially not one that came from her best friend.

By the time that all these thoughts were thoroughly shaken out of her head, they had arrived. The bell hanging above the door jingled merrily as we strode in. Jenny welcomed us into the diner as soon as she caught sight of us standing awkwardly in the doorway.  
“Ah the new employees are here, Daniel!” She called out, smiling at us.

Danny, the manager, poked his head from around the corner before coming out of the back room to welcome us to our first day of work. 

A man of little words, Danny handed us our aprons and gestured to the counter and the kitchen before hobbling back to the back room where he had come from.

We got to work, happy to be earning money that could get us on the road again. We didn’t want to exhaust our supplies or any of the money that we had left. I had extracted all of the money from both of my debit cards, and used my mom’s to extract some more. 

Running away was expensive with two other people.

Overall, combining my contributions with the others to the group finances, we had around $200,000 in each of our backpacks. Allison’s dad dealt in guns and at times acted as a bounty hunter for the supernatural who posed real threats, so her dad, who knew about the whole ‘escaping-the-state’ thing that we had going on, had generously given us more than enough to live off pretty comfortably until we wanted to settle down in one town. 

Preferably on the other side of the country.

Nevada was nice though and the small portion of it that I had watched zoom past the car was beautiful. It would be nice to stay here, but Lydia wasn’t getting the right feel from the town that they were staying in. And from the looks that the others had given on the walk here indicated that she wasn’t alone in having that feeling.

It was a few weeks after she had realised that she had a suspicious sinking feeling. The feeling hasn't gone away, in fact it had intensified. It was beginning to put all three of them on edge, with Stiles more hyperactive than ever, Allison fiddling with the weapons she had hidden about her person, and Lydia’s temper getting shorter by the day.

It was at the point where Lydia was about to ask Allison not-so-calmly to kindly stop taking out her knife and letting the whole of the diner know that she was armed, when the door to the IHOP flew open violently, shocking all of us, to reveal a 6’3 burly man covered in tattoos and werewolf hair, snarling at the customers and workers with gleaming white teeth and glaring with bright blue eyes, showing that this particular wolf would have no issue with gutting us and would prefer to eat us for dinner rather than the pancakes.

Which was a real shame as Allison had already burnt herself twice, and it would be a waste of all her hard work not to eat the slightly charred pancakes. She was better than the first day though, when she had been banned from the kitchen altogether. 

If she hadn’t been banned that week than Lydia doubted that the kitchen would still be standing. But she had taken it upon herself to train Allison to be the best pancake-cooker in the restaurant. Their little training sessions really didn’t help Lydia’s heart’s new habit of beating twice as fast when Allison was around. Or her fingers problem with fumbling and dropping things like keys, cooking utensils, and pretty much everything when Allison was around.

Letting out a simultaneous groan, the three teens advanced toward the snarling and spitting creature, much to the horror of the various adults in the diner. However before they would voice their concerns, Lydia and Stiles’ hands were already glowing and the two could already feel both of their magic power. Whilst Lydia had been training Allison, Stiles had also been training Lydia so that she could improve and they would make more of an impact when they combined their efforts.

Stiles had spent weeks practicing with her until she was at a much more respectable level than she had been when she left Beacon Hills. She could now use five times as many spell as she previously could and all of them were twice as powerful as when she used to cast them.

So as Lydia and Stiles approached the beast, the adults really had no need to worry because before they knew it, the two were flinging fireballs and little tornados and powerful streams of water, all whilst under a protective shield they had formed together, including Allison under it of course.

The huntress had whipped her bow out and had started shooting arrows out of the weapon at such a high speed that Lydia could barely see them zoom past her before striking the wolf in various vulnerable points. 

It was around 15 minutes into the battle, when Lydia’s power supplies were beginning to weaken that the wolf saw his long awaited chance. Snarling, he stormed forward, colliding with the shield but moving against it despite the pain it caused him, as shown by his howls. After a while of pushing against it, he finally broke through.

With a cry of panic the three dived in different directions, leaving the wolf with no one to claw at. He lunged at Lydia, his face and fur covered in blood from their magic and embedded with arrowheads. She whirled away, but the wolf managed to scrape her down her side, his claws coming away coated in blood. 

They heard a vicious growl of fury, but surprisingly enough it wasn’t from the wolf. It was from Allison. She took out her special arrows that had never been used. Lydia knew that she only created the arrows as a failsafe and one that she never wanted to use. But a hunter was always prepared. 

Quick as a flash, Allison began firing wolfsbane infused arrows at the wolf, driving him away from Lydia. With a look, Stiles was immediately at her side, and with one final push of magic, they threw a combined bolt of electric blue and sea green - the colour of each of their magic cores, with sea green for Lydia and the electric blue for Stiles - at the wolf, killing him instantly. 

Everything in Lydia’s vision began to blur, but she could hear the murmurings of shock from the customers and workers who had been gawking at them in awe as they took down the mighty beast, and Stiles clearing casting a spell that would wipe them of all their memories of the three and the wolf. 

She stumbled, grasping the edge of one of the tables to stable herself as the world began to tilt. She had overused her core and would not be conscious for much longer before she ran of both magical energy and physical energy. It would take around three days for her depleted magical reserves to fill completely but she would be conscious again in a maximum of 12 hours, with the ability to use minor magic. Once the three days were up she would be back to her usual state of a magical nearly-but-not-quite-almost pro.

Allison’s face came into focus and that was the last thing that she remembered before everything went black


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A filler chapter but it explains their plan for the next city. Also Stiles misses the pack.

Stiles tapped his long pale fingers on his knee, drumming to match the catchy beat blaring out of the truck’s speaker. He cast a sidelong glance at the guy they had hitched a ride with. He was wearing a torn and faded looking red cap and had on mud and grease spattered jeans along with a white t-shirt and a plaid shirt over it.

Basically he was identical to almost every trucker ever. 

Lydia’s head rested on his shoulder, her red hair splayed over his blue t-shirt. She had been unconscious for almost ten hours. In that time, Stiles and Allison had decided it was high time to get the hell out of Nevada. They had packed up all of their stuff, which had only taken like 15 minutes as they had packed light when they ran away from Beacon Hills. Thankfully, all of the books that his magical mentor had given him had been digitized or they would be carrying twice the weight that they had now.

All of Stiles and Lydia’s Latin textbooks had been downloaded off the internet so whilst Lydia slept, he was making some more progress into the language. He had also done some coding practice the night before, while Allison was sleeping. He had been too nervous and without his Atomoxetine, Stiles was having trouble focusing on anything. 

He cast a glance over to the brunette girl on Lydia’s other side. She was looking out of the window, staring stonily at the scenery passing her by. She had been fussing over Lydia since she fainted at the diner and no matter how many times Stiles told her that her being unconscious was due to her depleted magic reserves, Allison was worried about her.

It was kind of adorable, actually. 

Stiles put his focus back into the laptop resting on his knee. It was important not to get too distracted from the task at hand because that was when her began to remember. 

When he woke up from a particularly vivid dream/memory of the Nogitsune’s iron grip over him and all the things he had done under his control; of Gerard and the scars that littered his body from his time there. 

That’s when Stiles thinks of Isaac and how they used to make pillow forts together if either one of them had nightmares - Isaac’s always featured his father coming back and knocking him senseless, taking away the pack and everything that was going well for Isaac. 

When he had panic attacks after thoughts of anything happening to Allison or Lydia - him being too weak to protect them, or them leaving him, or either of them dying - then he would think of Cora and how they would calm each other down from panic attacks, as no one else in the pack knew that either of them got attacks like that. When he was shaking and everything was falling down around him and he couldn’t breath - Cora would just sit there and take him into her arms and help him calm his racing heart.  
Every time that Stiles put on his one graphic t-shirt left - his batman shirt - memories of Erica and movie nights spent tangled up with the blonde. Nights when Stiles was so beaten up - whether it was from supernatural creatures or bullies - he looked like the human equivalent of a peach that had been thrown of Mt. Everest. Memories of him and Erica laughing in the ice cream parlour. 

So many memories of so many good times, all with the pack - laughing, crying, happiness, pain - they had gone through it all. And now Scott had thrown it all away. His best friend, half of his pack, all gone. Stiles knew that there was no chance that even though they had stayed with their alpha, Erica, Cora and Isaac would not support his decision about this. Boyd didn’t really have an opinion on him, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t miss the big guy. 

He would never confess it to the girls but there had been many nights, almost every night since they left, when Stiles had been woken from his horrific dreams and had spent hours looking at the harsh light emitted from his phone with their smiling faces on it. 

Pure bliss from Isaac, Cora and Erica from their contact photos - not an emotion seen often - taken when they had been truly happy, and he had thought about calling them - telling them everything, how he felt like he was drowning, how he couldn’t protect Allison and Lydia, how he felt like he had lost everything. 

But then he looks back at the photos. Sees how Erica is beaming because she is with Boyd. How Cora is smiling so widely because she is surrounded by happy memories of her family and pack - and had a new one to help her through hard times. Sees how Isaac is laughing with Scott and Erica. 

Then he knows that they made the right decision when they stayed behind.

Even though it broke his heart to watch them avert their eyes away from his trembling lips and pain-filled eyes that fateful pack meeting.

Stiles quickly looked back at the laptop, knowing that it would be a bad idea to get sucked into thoughts of the pack.

Once you fall into that black hole, you never escape.

Stiles had spent hours of sleepless nights with thoughts of his friends revolving through his head on an endless conveyor belt. 

Are they ok. Do they need us. Should we go back. Are they after us. Are they ok. Do they need us. Should we go back. Are they after us. Are they ok. Do they need us. Should we go back -

His thoughts were interrupted by Lydia’s head shifting and a low groan escaping her lips. Allison’s head immediately snapped towards the redhead - it was so fast that Stiles thought she would get whiplash.

As soon as Lydia opened her eyes, she sat up and looked around herself and at the new surroundings she found herself in. Then she caught sight of Allison next to her and instantly burrowed her head into her shoulder and wrapped her arms around the brunette's upper body. 

“Where are we? What happened?” Lydia’s muffled voice was low and slightly croaky.

“You passed out from excessive magic use.” Stiles explained in a kind and soft voice. 

“We took down the wolf before you passed out but Stiles and I decided that we had outstayed our welcome in Nevada. From now on we don’t stay that long in one place. It puts everyone around us in danger and it’s selfish. Supernatural creatures are obviously attracted to our scents, perhaps to the strong magic that you and Stiles radiate. Or maybe we are considered part of the McCall pack and certain creatures may not like that. A lot of packs reject and are repulsed by the idea of including non-wolves in a pack if they’re not the emissary. Scott’s pack is very controversial.”

“Where are we headed?” Lydia’s voice came from Allison’s plain black jumper. We had all taken the most inconspicuous clothes we had, so we wore a lot of black now. Anything distinctive would make us memorable and we needed to become ghosts. Being found by anyone - the authorities, the pack, hunters - could not happen. They would never be welcomed back into the pack and they didn’t belong in Beacon Hills anymore.

Scott was the only reason that Stiles hadn’t skipped town before, he was the only thing tying him to that town besides his dad. But when Scott had dropped him and their friendship, he couldn’t handle staying in that town anymore. Staying in the town where there is only pain and suffering. 

His dad knew about the supernatural and Stiles had told him in his goodbye note that he was leaving to protect the Sheriff and that was true. He had become far too mixed up in things that hadn’t concerned him and now he was paying the price. Situations like the ones that the pack had found themselves in shouldn’t happen to anyone, let alone a bunch of scared and lonely teenagers who only had each other. 

The more involved he became in supernatural matters, the more panic attacks he got, the more paranoid he became and Stiles grew even more protective of those he held dear. He was prepared to do anything for the pack - even kill if he had to - and he would do it all willingly just to make sure that his friends and family were safe. The people changed but how protective he was never did. Sure, it’s only Lydia and Allison now but he would sacrifice anything, even his own life in a heartbeat if it ensured their safety.

“Stiles?” Allison’s voice broke him out of his thoughts as she looked at him, curious as to what he was thinking. “Where are we headed?” She reminded him of the question that Lydia had asked them already.

“Well we have been driving for a few hours so we are getting close Salt Lake City, Utah. I think that we should find a place to sleep and keep hitchhiking tomorrow until we reach Colorado. We need to get some good distance between us and California and now, Nevada. We could even keep finding lifts for truckers all through the night and sleep in shifts to make sure that nothing happens.”

Allison look sceptical at the plan. 

“Don’t you think that not finding a place to sleep is a bit excessive and dangerous? I mean, the trucker could drive us anywhere.”

Lydia’s head emerged from it’s place in Allison’s shoulder.

“Actually Stiles is right. We need to get some distance. It could end badly but it’s not like any of us are powerless or defenceless against one trucker.”

“And, I found the perfect place in Colorado to get new identities. It’s good for fake I.D’s, new phones, everything we need. They could get us new passports and we could go anywhere. Truly escape the pack and the authorities. I found them on my laptop a while ago. I think that that place is probably our best bet.”

“Ok.” Allison conceded. “But I’m taking first watch. Stiles, don’t think that I don’t know that you haven’t been sleeping for the past few weeks. Don’t worry about the nightmares. I’ll be here, right next to you. We both will. Always.” Lydia then snuggled into his chest. Stiles tipped his head back and let out a genuine laugh, amused by the fact that his normally sophisticated and respectable friend became the human equivalent of a koala when sleepy.

Allison smiled as she looked at Lydia cuddling Stiles, and looked at her with oceans of love in her eyes. Not only was Stiles smart but he was also very observant. He had known about the girls’ feelings for each other for a while, before even they realised what it meant. 

Soon they arrived at a relatively empty gas station just outside Park City in Utah. Once the truck they had ridden in had disappeared from sight, they began finding another willing trucker who would help them. The three made sure that they could all see their various bruises and scars and made themselves look as vulnerable as possible. It didn't take long for one of the truckers to agree to take them to Colorado.

They were on the road pretty quickly as the three of them were eager to make as much progress into their journey as quickly as possible. Lydia fell asleep pretty quickly, still slightly groggy from fighting the werewolf in IHOP. Stiles was on the laptop again, researching possible jobs that they could have whilst in Colorado. He thought that the month they spent in Nevada was too long and gave too many potential threats the chance to pinpoint their location.

Staying in Colorado for around two weeks seemed like their best bet. It gave them time to get a quick job, just enough to make sure they didn't completely use up their money. Stiles had an idea of travelling from state to state and city to city but holding down the same job. He and Lydia could work in public libraries running a two week course for coding or teaching languages that ran for an hour everyday. It would just be an introductory course for beginners but it would earn them money and they could do it anywhere. 

As the night dragged on and Allison showed no signs of dropping off anytime soon, Stiles decided that he would only be able to work efficiently and cast good, proper healing magic to help Lydia out if he slept. So, leaning his head against the window of the truck, he drifted off into his land of nightmares and horror, 

Oh, what fun.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look at what's happening in Beacon Hills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to make it clear that I welcome any criticism on the work that I have done to help me improve the story. If you have any ideas that you think could make this better, feel free to share them with me.

Scott ran his hand through his hair, letting out an exhausted sigh. He looked down at his watch just as the hands moved. 10:39 A.M. And still no sign of any of his ‘pack’. 

Isaac, Erica and Cora hadn’t talked to him in days, and Boyd’ loyalty to his girlfriend meant that there had been no contact between his pack and their alpha. No matter how many times he approached any of them and attempted to use his ‘alpha of the pack’ card on them and despite the pain that they felt at feeling Scott’s anger towards them, they were stubborn.

When he tried talking to Isaac last time, he had just directed his hurt puppy eyes at the boy and said firmly, ‘The pack died the minute the others left,’

Erica had taken him into her arms and glared at Scott as she took him away, with him taking obvious and visual comfort in her presence and scent, which drove the dagger further into Scott’s heart. 

Even his mom was mad at him. When he came to her with his problems, all she had done was look coldly at him and tell him that she already knew everything. How Scott had thrown away not only a powerful person but an intelligent, loyal, and brave person when he discarded Stiles. How when he decided to throw away those years of friendship, he lost everything. Isaac, with his support and constant trust. He’d lost Erica and her bravery and strength of will, along with Boyd and his power and strength. And he had let go of Cora and her snark and abilities. She was also his only link to Derek so he doubted that the Hale boy would be returning to help them anytime soon. At least until he had fixed these broken pieces and put his pack back together - all of them - no matter the cost.

And Stiles had taken two more valuable members of the pack with him when he packed up and left. Lydia had left him and taken her intelligence and her unique death sensing skills with her. Allison had gone with Stiles and left him without her battle knowledge and fighting skill as well.   
He was just glad he hadn’t run into the Sherrif yet. As he knew about the supernatural, there was no doubt that Stiles had told him before he left what had happened. About how Scott thought that he was too weak and cast him out of the pack.

Once his mom made him see all that he had lost, he truly understood the depths of his mistake and that the only person to blame was Scott himself. He had let the most powerful mage in centuries slip through his fingers like sand because he thought being a werewolf made him better than him somehow despite the other boy’s loyalty and friendship along with the support that he always offered. 

So as soon as he had realised what he had truly done, he called the pack for a meeting. Of course it was unlikely any of them would turn up. He was well aware of the war that was raging between them after the choices he had made. 

Scott let out another tired sigh as the longer clock hand turned to meet the 12. It was 11 at night and he had to face the fact that he had been abandoned by his own pack because of the idiot choices that he had made.

Then there was a hesitant knock at the door. From beyond the dark oak of the door, Scott could smell smoke and a hint of mango, showing that it was Boyd at the door. He had been around Erica and she had sent marked him to show that their rebellion and determination not to cave to Scott’s hopes for them to return, hence the subtle air of mango.

Boyd gave Scott a sheepish look as he came quietly into the room. Scott looked at him expectantly, wondering why he was here and knowing that Boyd would tell him a message that had been written by his betas as a team. 

“Look, Scott. I don’t know what we are fighting for. I guess to prove to ourselves that we truly loves Stiles, Lydia and Allison. We have all been having small doubts and fears that we had done something to push them away, make them think that their only option was leaving California altogether. It’s not like they can see us put up a fight against you but it helps with our peace of mind.” 

Boyd sighed and moved closer to Scott. “I know you miss him Scott. You can’t deny the effects that a decade of friendship has had on you. You’re used to having him to rely on you, always having your back. And you knew that if he couldn’t help you then we would always be here. But you don’t have any of that support anymore. You need to learn how to handle your own problems before you try to be an alpha and help others with their problems.” 

Boyd began to make his way to the door, but stopped. He tilted his head slightly towards the other boy, but his face was still clouded in shadows. 

“I’m sorry, Scott.”

Then the taller boy was gone, his footsteps still sounding in Scott’s ears but gradually fading away.

\-- -- -- -- -- 

Cora sat in the darkened room with the moonlight streaming through the window. It highlighted her features, making her pale skin glow and giving her an unearthly look. It also illuminated the lines forming on her face, frown lines from the stress of dealing with all of Beacon Hills crap as well as her own issues. 

But there were also laugh lines etched into her skin, reminding her of the days when everything was good. Injuries were minimal as wells as attacks. The pack was closer than ever and Cora finally felt like she truly belonged somewhere, for the first time since the fire all those years ago.

But then she cleared her head of those fond memories and dispelled the warm fuzzy feeling that was growing in her chest and snapped back to reality. Derek, Stiles, Lydia, and Allison had all left them, leaving them to deal with Scott’s mistakes since Lord knows that he would never deal with the repercussions and consequences of his actions. 

Erica and Boyd were behind her, sleeping and the sounds of their gentle snoring filling the room. They were sprawled out on the bed, with Boyd wrapping his large arms around Erica’s body. Isaac was curled in a ball in the bed, with his hand unconsciously straying from the protection he was giving himself as he slept and making contact with the slumbering couple.

The group were in Allison’s house, her father having offered them a temporary home with him. It was better than anything else they had got, so there they were, surrounded by memories of the brunnette hunter. Her presence was everywhere in the room, reminding Cora of the kindness and warmth that she had always giving her despite Cora’s original prickly demeanor.

Her hands began to clutch at her jeans and the seat that she was in as memories of the all people who had left flooded into her head - laughing with Lydia in the middle of one of their studying sessions. Cora and Lydia were never best buddies but due to Lydia’s academic help, the two had grown closer. 

Memories of Allison and her in the forest together, training and staying in shape and keeping each other motivated. Cora had let herself bond with Allison a lot during their time together. She had a large amount of respect for anybody who could hold their own against any of the stubborn idiots in the pack.

Then finally, she remembered all of the nights with Stiles, calming each other down, or taking midnight strolls - taking in the uncharacteristic quiet of the boy during those times. The times when he would let his guard down and truly show who he was - a scared boy, determined to stop running. To start defending himself. 

Her and Stiles had grown so close. She always had his back whenever - when Gerard or the Nogitsune would not stop haunting him and he started panicking, when he felt like he was unwanted, when he blamed himself for his mother’s death. Sure he normally went to Isaac when he had his nightmares but it was Cora who was there if he was panicking and couldn’t handle it.

And she knew that Stiles would never let her down. He would always be there - when she couldn’t handle Derek’s absence, when she felt the hole that her family had left more keenly than ever, when she felt like she didn’t belong in the pack with these people. He was always there, calming her down, helping her see all that she had, telling her that he would never leave her, reminding her that Derek needed her just as much as she needed him. Her brother had been a mess before she arrived. Now that he had left, they both were in ruins.

Cora and Stiles had each other’s back, even the rest of the pack could see that their bond was different to the friendships that he had with the others. Neither of them told anyone else about the panic attacks.

The only reason that Cora had not left with Stiles was because of the hope that she had been keeping in her ever since her brother left California. She hoped that he would come back and she knew that she would have to be here when he did. Although it looked like the chances of Derek ever returning were far too slim to ever happen.

Bitterly she began to question her loyalty to her brother as her vision began to darken around the edges. Where was he when she needed him more than ever? With Stiles being gone, the amount of panic attacks she had been having had increased at an alarming rate. And she knew that it would be no better for him despite the support of Allison and Lydia.

Gradually it became harder to breathe. So that’s why Cora pressed down on Stiles name in her phone when the world started closing in on her and her throat constricted further. Because no matter what, and no matter where he was, she knew he would pick up. The ringing seemed to echo in her ear as she held the phone up. Stiles’ voice was groggy when he answered, making it clear that he had been sleeping.

“Stiles” Cora’s voice was croaking and breaking and far too breathy. Her chest felt too tight, she couldn’t get the air into her lungs. Everything was going darker and fuzzier and she began to feel light headed.

“Cora” Stiles suddenly sounded far more awake than a few seconds ago. “Cora, I need you to listen of sound of my voice, ok? Just listen to my voice and try to take deep, slow and steady breaths, Take all the time you need and wait until you can tell me that you're able to see clearer, ok?”

Stiles kept talking in his soothing voice, telling her that everything was going to be okay and to listen to him. Eventually, her vision began to clear, things coming into focus. Her breaths were irregular but she could breathe.

Stiles talked her through the rest of the process, identifying objects in the room and explaining their purpose. That cleared their head of whatever caused the attack and helped them focus on what was happening right there. 

It didn’t take too long for Cora to be able to take long, steady and deep breathes and she felt far more calm but a bit shaky. It was strange to not feel Stiles next to her and his hand rubbing small circles on her back. But she could hear his breathing through the phone line and it felt so good to just be able to hear him. 

“I miss you Stiles. I miss all of you.” Cora’s voice broke on his name and the tears began to roll down her cheeks. She couldn’t handle their absence. “I should have come with you when you left. I don’t know what I’m doing here. I only stayed for the chance that Derek would turn up but I doubt he ever will at this point.”

“Cora, I wish you had come but you made the right choice. I know Boyd, Erica and Isaac. Without you all three of them would have tore the rest of Beacon Hills to pieces by now. They need you there.”

“I know.” Cora sighed and curled up into a ball. “But I can’t handle no contact Stiles. We have to call regularly, I have to know that you three are safe.” Cora’s voice softened at this point. “You may have felt like you were not wanted here but we all need you. You are important to us and you mean a lot to me.” One last tear ran down Cora’s cheek as she whispered, “Be safe Stiles.”

“I will, Cor. I’ll call soon. I promise.”

And with that, all Cora was left with was the suffocating silence and three sleeping werewolves.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group faces yet another threat whilst making their way through Colorado.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologises for anything that isn't satisfactory or for any incorrect details.

Lydia was violently jerked awake as the truck made a sudden stop at a traffic light. She groaned as she cracked her eyelids open to get a glimpse of wispy clouds painted pink by the rising sun and heard the rumbling and growling of the engine. The loud sounds of honking filled her ears as she tiredly stretched her cramped limbs out in the space provided by the truck. 

Looking to her left, she cast a glance at Allison, the brunnette hunter staring stoically at the passing road. She was sitting in the exact same position that she had been when Lydia had fallen asleep - head cradled in one hand with the other hand tapping out a rhythm on her leg.

Lydia tapped on Allison’s shoulder gently and the other girl snapped her head towards the redheaded girl, taken by surprise. Looking at the girl beside her, Allison’s face instantly relaxed into a calm and relieved expression compared to the panicked and aggressive expression that her features had made when she turned around.

“Oh, I didn’t hear you wake up. You feeling ok now?” Allison looked at her gently, showing genuine concern for Lydia’s well being. 

“I’m fine” She replied shortly, hating the reminder of her weakness. She should have been stronger, should have been able to handle the situation. What if one of the others got seriously hurt? And it would be because Lydia hadn’t been strong enough to fight against a single werewolf.

She turned to her right, to wake Stiles up and demand more vigorous and intense training, only to find Stiles already awake and scrolling through his phone. 

He looked at Lydia, the weak sunlight streaming in through the car window highlighting his hair and making his dark hair look like caramel curls. His amber eyes were shadowed and looked faded. However there was also a certain faint twinkle in his golden irises that hadn’t been seen for months - not since the Gerard incident. 

Being tortured by a master hunter just because you’re human tends to make a person a little less cheery so who could blame him. 

“I need more training, Stiles. I need to get stronger - become powerful enough to help us win fights. We are going to face much tougher threats than a lone wolf. I need to be prepared.”

Stiles cocked his head to the side - a habit he picked up from the pack - and bit his lip - a habit he had picked up from Erica. He considered Lydia’s statement for a second before looking at her again. 

“Fair enough,” He said shrugging and turned back to his phone. 

Lydia looked victorious. She turned back around to the brunette to her left and pointed at her, with an expectant look on her face, cueing the words that came out of Allison’s mouth. Being best friends throughout the madness of Beacon Hills had brought the two girls closer together than anyone knew. 

“I don’t like the idea of you pushing yourself so hard. You have to take care of yourself Lydia. So much intense magic - and just for training - could be seriously harmful to you and your long-term abilities. You have to build up to it gradually, so you don’t strain your powers too much”

In unison, Stiles and Lydia looked at each other in surprise before turning to Allison. 

“What?” She said defensively. “Did you really think that I wouldn’t find out all that I could about both of your abilities so that I could help in every way I could?”

Lydia considered it for a moment before saying, “Actually, no. That’s pretty predictable. I’m just surprised you found that much. All our spell books are in Latin and I know for a fact that you don't know Latin.”

Allison shot her a wicked grin. “Google translate, Lydia. Thank God for Google Translate.”

Three hours later the truck pulled into a service station in Denver, Colorado. The sun had properly come up by this point and it was around 2 in the afternoon. The service station was pretty much empty apart from them despite it being relatively close to the highway, although this particular one was rather run down and only had a small parking space and bathroom area. There was only a few people milling about, a family and a young guy and girl along with a few older couples.

The three of them stepped down from the truck and looked around the area, looking for any truckers who could take them to the nearest motel. None of the various people looked like the typical trucker and there were none parked about the area. The three teens looked at one another and sighed, knowing that this meant they were hitchhiking to find their next ride.

That was when, out of nowhere, something struck Stiles in the head, knocking him to the ground. Whirling around, the girls faced the threat and found themselves looking at a quartet of vicious and snarling werewolves, all four of them standing tall and broad. Their eyes glinted red in the sunlight. 

Groaning, Stiles pushed himself up and let out another sigh. He sent a spell spiralling at the citizens looking at the scene in shock that instantly wiped their minds and put them into an unconscious state that would last an hour. The last thing that the group wanted was for any innocent citizens to get injured because of them.

The four werewolves soon had the trio of humans back to back, glaring at the advancing overly-furry, grumpy looking men. Little did the wolves know that this was exactly what the teens wanted. 

Sharing a smirk, they jumped into action, taking the four by surprise. They could smell the magic on the group but hadn’t expected them to be trained to fight or brave enough to take on a group of werewolves, especially when they were outnumbered. Stiles had used a spell to mask their scent so the wolves had thought that they were inexperienced and untrained in the art of magic. The alphas had walked into the fight thinking that they had the obvious advantage and would walk away unscather and triumphant. 

Idiots.

Lydia sent fireball after fireball spiralling towards their broad chests, letting her anger and frustration at herself and her ‘not-quite-good-enough’ fuel the speed and aggression behind the spells. The redhead was throwing those fireballs faster than Stiles and Allison had ever seen and Lydia didn’t miss the impressed look that the brunnette hunter sent her way. That only made her more determined to defeat these overgrown dogs.

Beside her, Allison was slashing her ring daggers in a blur, causing some serious damage. She was too close to use her bow but was equally as terrifying with a blade as she was with an arrow. It may not be where her natural skill laid but Allison worked hard enough to become just as skilled at both fighting styles.

Stiles was sending all manner of offensive spells at their attackers, knocking them back with bolts of lightning, fireballs, ice blocks and balls, and illusions of phantom attackers. He darted in and out of sight, utilizing his invisibility ability to land some serious damage and not just with his magic. He was a good fighter, light on his toes and fast, so he could land some punches in weak spots and some well placed dagger stabs before darting back to safe distance to relentlessly attack them with spells.

The wolves realised that they had seriously underestimated the group’s skill set and knew that if they didn’t get out fast they were screwed. But Lydia was tiring fast and they caught on to that, directing more of their slashes and attacks at the redhead. Before any of their claws could so much as graze Lydia’s pale skin, a wolfsbane laced dagger was in their hand. 

The redhead had thought ahead and asked Allison for some weapons to defend herself with for the next time the were attacked. Back when the three of them had been working for IHOP and Lydia was teaching Allison how to make a decent pancake, Allison had repaid her by training her in weapon use.

The pack’s training had already given Lydia the skills to handle herself in a battle when it came to stance and using a dagger well enough to avoid dying pretty painfully but she was still no hunter. Still, considering this time two years ago, Lydia had been considered an airhead who only thought about fashion, Allison was pretty impressed. Now she was a runaway teenager who could kill someone in the blink of an eye, with magic, a scream or a weapon, and could probably still go to collage and change the field of maths and science forever.

So, although the pack had helped Lydia defend herself, Allison took it upon herself in Nevada to teach Lydia how to seriously harm someone and attack. They tried her with a bow but she couldn’t get the stance right. But she had the potential to become seriously skilled with a long dagger of a sword. 

So Lydia was now armed with a range of blades with varying lengths. Of course, she still hadn’t reached Allison’s level, but she was a very intimidating fighter who could do a lot of damage. That was proven by the wolf’s howls filling the clearing as Lydia’s wolfsbane-laced dagger impaled his hand. The man lay on the ground, whimpering like a scolded dog. 

One down, three to go.

It wasn’t long before Lydia resorted to using mainly blades to prevent her magical reserves from becoming depleted again. She wielded a three foot long sword and become a sharp whirlwind that made her way through the wolves alongside Allison.

The redhead and brunette worked as a terrifying tag team, taking on two of the wolves, leaving one of them for Stiles. One of them looked particularly nasty, so Lydia left that one for Allison, knowing she could handle it. 

It didn’t take very long for the pair to take the wolves down. Just because they had enhanced speed and reactions didn’t mean they were very good in a fight. They just couldn't measure up to two humans who had been living in a supernatural world for the past two years, and had more experience fighting than the four wolves put together. 

Most wolves didn’t face the situations that each of the McCall pack had taken on, individually and together. Even newly turned ones joined a pack and spent their time running freely with their furry buddies.

However, Beacon Hills was the supernatural equivalent to a Hellmouth, so the McCall/Hale pack had faced more threats in two years than most wolf packs would face in 50 years. And they were all still pretty much alive, so yay.

Together, ‘Team Human-ish’ had defeated the wolves without much drama and no serious injuries. All of them had acquired scratches from claw slashes and fang bites. But they would scar over and join the map of scars that already littered their bodies.

Stiles had scars from Gerard and The Nogitsune tearing Stiles’ own body to pieces while still possessing it. His back was a crisscross of thin white raised scars, mapping out his pain. He also had wolf bites from rogue alphas they had encountered. Being the ‘most defenseless member’ of the pack had brought him a lot of pain and he had the proof on his body.

Allison was covered in scars from training exercises with the hunters. As soon as she found out about their ‘side business’, her family had made sure that the youngest Argent would be able to defend herself and easily take down a wolf, even if that meant putting the girl through literal hell.  
She also had battle scars from the time that she got, y’know, stabbed, so there’s that one. 

Lydia hadn’t escape peril unscathed either. Her head was covered in scars from where the doctor at Eichen House had cut her head open to improve her banshee abilities. The incident with Peter on the lacrosse field had left her covered in scars as well.

Not to mention the scars that all three of them had acquired from incidents like the final battle against the Nogitsune, fighting Kate Argent, and the Dread Doctors. Their bodies were littered with the proof of their bravery, the truth in their stories, and the true danger all of them had faced in Beacon Hills. They just added any possible wounds that would leave a mark from this battle to their growing collections. 

No amount of moisturiser could save Lydia’s skin after these two years.

With the four wolves on the ground, the three teens looked down at them , stonily regarding that damage they had caused. Stiles cast a worried glance at the citizens scattered across the outskirts of the rest stop, worried the hour would finish soon. They couldn’t see three teens stand over four hogtied, injured, dangerous looking men.

Lydia leaned over one of the men and said in a sickly sweet voice dripping with concealed venom, “Tell us why you attacked us, sweetie, before we mess your faces us even more.”

“I will never betray the Alpha Pack,” One of the wolves spat, the one clad in a very Derek looking leather jacket. Realization dawned on his face. Lydia looked at the others victoriously, Stiles and Allison chuckling at werewolves arrogance and incompetence.

“Thanks.” Stiles nodded at the guy, who was receiving vicious glares from the other three, before Allison punched him in the face hard enough to knock him out as well as break his nose. She swiftly inflicted the same punishment on the other wolves before the group moved the tied up men to the middle of the forest.

The left them in the middle of a clearing far from the rest stop, hoping that they would have enough sense to go running back to their pack with their tails between their legs instead of attacking any humans.

But then again, in their experience, werewolves were not renowned for their stellar intelligence.

Lydia sighed as the group walked through the forest, trying to find their way off the highway to find a motel. 

“The Alpha Pack. We need to find out who they are and what the hell they want with us and why they keep sending wolves after us.” Lydia told the others.

Allison nodded her head in agreement. “All of the wolves that we have fought have seemed prepared to fight till the death. They obviously either seriously believe in what they stand for or are terrified of the disciplinary actions they will face for failing in their task.”

Stiles looked thoughtful. “I just hope that this rivalry or whatever this is, doesn’t last long. I have a feeling that the ‘Alpha Pack’ could become a real issue if we don’t find a way to get rid of them quickly”


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER IS SET AROUND A YEAR AFTER THE EVENTS OF CHAPTER SIX. PLEASE DO NOT GET CONFUSED WHEN READING THIS CHAPTER. 
> 
> I REPEAT, A YEAR AFTER CHAPTER SIX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER IS SET AROUND A YEAR AFTER THE EVENTS OF CHAPTER SIX. PLEASE DO NOT GET CONFUSED WHEN READING THIS CHAPTER. 
> 
> I REPEAT, A YEAR AFTER CHAPTER SIX
> 
> Okay, so basically, I am very lazy and didn't want to have to write how the team gets to the point they are at in this chapter through telling the story normally. I thought it would be a good idea to have the characters tell the events as if they were looking back on them. Besides, in my opinion, the story was moving pretty slowly and this speeds up progress a bit. 
> 
> There will be multiple POV's in this chapter in multiple locations. I will try to make it clear whose perspective each passage is in and where it is set, but here is a little pre-warning 
> 
> Listened to Paramore's 'Fast in My Car' whilst writing this chapter. Definitely a good theme for Team Human-ish. You don't have to listen when reading but in general I think it suits the whole story quite well.

Allison’s POV - Littleton, New Hampshire

Allison collapsed on her bed, letting out a sigh of relief. Today had been a surprisingly busy day at the gun range, with a lot of inexperienced first-time shooters being assigned to her area. To be fair, she was the most experienced shooter in the whole of Littleton so that was no surprise. She was considered the expert on the range and most of the new shooters who were just attempting it for the first time came to learn from her. 

She had been working at the range for around nine months now and she had already built up a reputation for herself. Her skill at shooting would not be enough to track her to New Hampshire, especially when their last known location was Nevada. 

The range was nothing fancy. Littleton was a small town but it was the ideal place to settle down. It was the other side of the country to Beacon Hills, for starters. Second of all, they stayed here for three weeks and didn’t even get a sniff of any supernatural activity, whether it be the Alpha Pack, hellhounds, ghouls, or any of the particularly nasty demons that the group have had to deal with in the past year. Yeah, it’s safe to say that the whole team had been through the wringer a couple of times but they were all still here and closer than ever.

Team Human-ish had actually gained their own reputation, even bigger than the one of the famed McCall-True-Alpha pack’s reputation. They were referred to as The Three, and they were respected within the supernatural communities all over the nation for getting rid of anything that caused any trouble. They were efficient, in synch with one another and scarily good at what they did. 

Stiles’ magical abilities had increased a tenfold, a part of being the most powerful person of this century. Unfortunately that made him a rather large target for aspiring werewolves, demons, kitsunes, really anything that wanted the glory of taking down the almighty mage. Although Stiles was perfectly capable of dealing with these annoyances all on his own, the girls always had his back in the battles, never letting him go into one unprepared and without their help. 

Stiles had also become a much better fighter, losing any remains of the clumsy and flailing boy he had once been. He was now composed, and in full control of his limbs which was a relief. He had become muscled and well toned due to the intense training sessions that the three of them worked through together. The boy had grown, now standing at around 6 foot, however he still looked as pale and as haunted as the day that he left Beacon Hills.

Yeah, it’s safe to say that the whole team had been through the wringer a couple of times but they were all still here and closer than ever.

Lydia’s magic and her control over it had improved, she was proving herself to be a force to be reckoned with. Not only that, but she had become a formidable fighter, a truly terrifyingly skilled fighter. She was a whirlwind in battle and was faster on her feet than Allison could ever hope to be. She was no longer considering herself as ‘the weak link’ in the team and she no longer relied on anyone in battle or to train her. Of course, with Lydia being who she was, she never stopped relentlessly pushing herself to be the strongest she could be. Lydia had also honed her banshee abilities and was able to see, predict and herald death and reasons, culprits and motives behind the deaths. She had become able to only hone in on the ones she needed to hear so she didn’t have to deal with an overwhelming influx of deaths from all around the world

Meanwhile Allison had improved her combat skills as well, keeping a steady rate of progress ever since the group left Beacon Hills, due to her strict training exercises. She hardly ever slacked off, not wanting to ever be the reason that Stiles or Lydia got hurt and wanting to prevent them ever becoming injured. She also had learnt Latin so that she could assist the other two when they were doing their spell stuff.

To be honest, Allison had no clue what half of the mumbo jumbo they said or wrote but it made Lydia happy to see her try to become involved in something so important and such a big part of the redhead, so Allison persevered. 

After all, she had to keep her girlfriend happy.

Yeah, Allison still had no idea what she did to get the girl to like her enough to go out with her but it wasn’t like she’s complaining.

One day, the two of them just knew that they both could tell something had changed between the two of them. Of course they went through that time of denial, refusing to believe that there was something that could complicate the friendship they had. Allison could not bear to ruin everything with one of the only people she had left.

But this is Lydia, so it wasn’t like the redhead would let her ignore the growing feelings in her chest for very long.

Lydia confessed to her that she was terrified of this too. They had been friends for nearly 3 years. They had come to rely on the other more than either of them had realised and when Allison attempted to shut the redhead out, to preserve their friendship, Lydia was struck with the realisation of how she just simply could not function without Allison. 

She recalled the panic and complete terror she had felt when she sensed the Oni attempt to kill the brunette. It felt like everything inside of her was shattering all at once, leaving her empty. Thinking of that feeling, she knew that these feelings had not happened recently. She had been in love with Allison since she saw her in the hallway on her first day of school.

Once they had talked about it, the brunette began to realise how right Lydia was - as usual. She could imagine life without Lydia and memories of her life before Beacon Hills were tainted grey without the vibrant spark of life she provide which brightened up every day of her life.  
Stiles POV - Littleton, New Hampshire

 

Allison and Lydia have been avoiding their feelings since day one. So when they finally got their shit together and started dating, Stiles was ecstatic that the two of them had come to their senses. He had found someone too, a guy named Adam but he was lying to himself when he thought that he could make the relationship actually work. The man he found himself with was not the one for him and he knew why. Sure, they guy looked similar and whether or not he had done that on purpose he wasn’t sure, but Adam wasn’t Derek. He had the cheekbones and the eyebrows and even the boxy face but he wasn’t Stiles’ sourwolf. 

Allison knew that things were going south with Adam, who only Stiles had actually met. The story behind them was that they had met back in Wyoming. Stiles had been shocked by the startling physical similarities between this mystery guy and the one who refused to stray far from the boy’s thoughts. He knew that Derek didn’t want to return to the pack and didn’t even know that Stiles had left and he knew that this new guy would only bring him pain if he tried to start anything. But he had to try.

They didn’t stay any longer in Wyoming than they normally would have but Stiles told Adam that they were going on a road trip. Just him and his friends, told him that they would be back soon. Adam hadn’t suspected a thing and kissed Stiles a sweet goodbye but he drove away with a bitter taste in his mouth. 

They had kept in constant contact and Adam never caught on to anything, never made a connection between his new boyfriend and the boy on the ‘missing’ posters that plastered half of the United States by this point. They Skyped and called and texted and Allison had watched as this boy helped Stiles but made his Derek-thing far worse. Stiles couldn’t let go.

But when Stiles watched his two friends together, finally coming to terms with what they felt for each other, he knew that he couldn’t deceive the other boy like this. He was being far too selfish. Adam thought that he had the same feelings that he had for Stiles, or at least the version of Stiles that he knew, but he didn’t. Stiles was just using the other boy to help put himself back together after everything. 

So soon after Allison and Lydia finally got their act together, Stiles broke it off with Adam. The blue eyed boy had been heart broken but lead to believe that it was the distance that made things too difficult for Stiles. He still felt crushing guilt for deceiving the other boy like that. He spent sleepless nights wrestling with the fallout of losing his one link to Derek. Despite his lack of feelings for Adam, he had clutched to the other boy because of Derek and letting go of him felt like letting go of his sourwolf all over again.

The golden eyed boy still had Derek’s number saved in his phone but he had never once dared to dial it. He didn’t know if he could handle hearing that bastard’s voice again. Not only had he abandoned Stile but he had abandoned the pack as well. He knew that they needed him but he left either way. Scott needed someone to help keep him in line and thinking rationally but he sure as hell wasn’t going to listen to anyone else. Scott stopped trusting Stiles and he didn’t trust Lydia anymore either and the others couldn’t exactly stand up to Scott. 

Derek had left them alone to deal with all the shit that Beacon Hills brought them. He hadn’t given them so much as an emergency contact number or a place to find him let alone an address. He had left them, plain and simple.

Right when Stiles needed him most. 

He shook himself out of the thoughts that were running through his head. He couldn’t think of them right now. Everything had finally been going good for them and they didn’t have to leave town every other week. They hadn’t fought against a threat in a couple of days and no one bothered them in Littleton. Most of them time, they would go on hunting trips for any potential threats to anybody. Most peaceful communities had their burner phone number and a fake name to contact them with in case they ran into any trouble. 

The three were infamous for how ruthless and efficient they were. Yeah sure, they were essentially assassins but they prevented civilians and innocent people from getting in harm's way and they stopped anyone from hurting the public. People like the Alpha Pack needed to be stopped. Lydia had been following a lead that could help them find those bastards soon, but they had been hunting them for over a year so it wasn’t like Stiles expected to catch them in a day.

The amber eyed boy sat in the middle of his room, thinking back to when they first realised that Littleton would be the perfect area to settle down. They owned the house that they were living in and were residing in it on a full time basis. Signing the forms for this place was a big moment for them all. This wasn’t quite the circumstances that they had imagined themselves in when they thought about buying their first house but it worked for them.

The house was small but it was only for the three of them so it wasn’t like they needed a mansion. There was three bedrooms and bathrooms, a ‘study’ - that one was used for spell practice - a living room, kitchen and a very large basement and backyard. 

The last two had greatly contributed to why they bought the property they did. Allison didn’t need a shooting area anymore as she had authority to use the range whenever she wanted, for guns and her bow and arrow and she was able to allow Stiles and Lydia to practice their for free whenever she went for a training session. But all three of them used the basement as a training arena for their combat and to store their weapons - guns, a wide range of daggers, knives and swords, crossbows, bows, quivers, arrows. Stiles had his own magical staff but he kept that in his room. 

There was a small gym in the basement but the three of them mainly used the local gym that they hacked into to get free full membership to for all time, using their fake names of course. Since they acquired the documents that they needed to strip their old identities completely, Stiles, Allison and Lydia became Marty White, Taylor Friedman and Zoey Reyes respectively. 

They used the backyard as a training ground for running scenarios they could find themselves in, using the forest as an alternative terrain for training. It would be stupid to think that they could win every battle and the scars splattered across their bodies illustrated that fact. Without getting used to difficult terrains where you struggled to keep even footing and balance, they wouldn’t stand a chance against any creature with enhanced abilities. 

They also had a bunker hidden in the forest. You never know when you have to hide from a threat and a bunker would allow them to rest, heal and hide in safety before calling reinforcements if they ever found themselves in that kind of situation. Stiles was proud to say that they had never had to use the bunker or call in reinforcements.

The Three was certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Cora’s POV - Beacon Hills, California

Cora let out a tired sigh as she ran her hand through her hair. It had gotten long lately, longer than she had ever let it grow. But she had been too busy to bother with getting a decent haircut. In the last year, Scott had managed to piece the pack back together and convince them all to stay with him. Cora knew that it was only because he was afraid of what the consequences of his actions could result in. 

Isaac and Erica had been reluctant to say the least. It had taken months for Scott to make them stay. Cora had come in willingly because she knew that as soon as she could pinpoint The Three’s location she would be out of Beacon Hills faster than her brother had. 

She wasn’t dumb. It didn’t take someone like Lydia or Stiles to realise that the famed ‘Three’ were their friends. Come on, two magic users, one of whom was the most powerful that anyone had encountered, a skilled hunter. It was sort of obvious. So, although she was no computer wizard like Stiles, Cora had been tracking them for months, using new networks and her contacts to follow their path around the country.

At first they seemed to be going somewhere, and that was the other side of the U.S to California but recently they had settled down a bit more. Turned up at random locations but not scattered across America. They were mainly near New Hampshire and its surrounding states. 

So they knew what states they could be in. It took a bit more work to pinpoint which one and where in it. 

But they were getting there. When Isaac, Erica and Boyd started helping, the whole hunt sped up. They were getting close and as soon as they were sure of their location, it was road trip time, Scott not invited. 

He may have convinced them to stay in the pack but they were not loyal to him. If he could stab his best friend in the back and be willing to abandon with him, then who knows what he would be willing to do to them. 

Cora glanced at her watch. It was nearing 11:00 P.M. As soon as the hand struck the twelve, marking the beginning of the new hour, Cora’s phone lit up next to her, vibrating, with Stiles contact photo shining in the dark room.

Before the second ring was finished, Cora had clicked the green button and had the small device plastered to her ear, desperate to hear him. She nodded at the others who began to attempt to track his call. Stiles been calling her at the same time on the same day every week since she had desperately rang him in the middle of her panic attack nearly a year ago. The only unscheduled calls were when he was in desperate need to hear her voice to talk him out of his panic attack.

When the four of them had began to track The Three, Cora had the bright idea of tracking the calls in order to find their location. They had come close the last time and the other three nearly had the process memorised. They were almost as good as Lydia and Stiles at tracing calls now. This would probably be the one where they would finally get a hit on their location. 

Stiles had no idea that they were trying to find them because they knew that he would try to talk them out of it. But he didn’t know what Scott had become at this point. He didn’t trust anyone and despite being the all-powerful-true-alpha he had to get everyone else to do everything for him. Scott wasn’t being arrogant he just didn’t trust himself anymore.

It was a pity, really. Seeing him destroyed by his own mistakes. But Scott had brought this upon himself. If when they met up with Stiles, Lydia and Allison and they wanted to give him a second chance then they would give him the location and everything could be hunky dory. Otherwise, Scott wasn’t going with them no matter his status in the pack.

Cora and Stiles talked for a few minutes, updating each other on recent events and trying to reassure the other that they were okay before Isaac gave Cora a nod, then throwing his hands up victoriously. 

“Stiles! I gotta go, it’s an emergency but I will talk to you soon, ok? Stay safe”

“You too, Cora. Don’t get hurt. And don’t do anything stupid,” She could hear his laugh in his voice and it made a grin break out on her face.

“Right back at you, Stilinski.” Then she hung up and slammed the mobile on the table. 

“I got them, Cora. I got their location. The call was coming from his cell and it was just outside of New Hampshire, but he is on the move. I think he is in a car because he is moving pretty quickly. I am tracking his phone now, the call gave me a chance to get access into his location services in his phone’s hardware.” Isaac’s excited tone stopped and his voice quietened. “We got them Cora. I think that within the hour I will have a certain location for them”

Erica and Boyd smiled at him, barely hiding their joy and excitement, congratulating him before turning to Cora, waiting for her reaction.

“Lydia, Allison, Stiles. Here we come”


	8. Chapter Eight

Stiles POV - Littleton, New Hampshire

The loud bass pounded in Stiles’ ears, in time with his punches. His fists began to ache as they struck the heavy punching bag. With sweat dripping down his face and his breath coming in pants, he took a break from the relentless training. He removed the cloth wrapping from around his hand and threw it into his gym bag in the corner. Stiles took out another, longer length of cloth and winded it around his pale hands. He clenched his hand together to make a fist and wearily made his way back to the bag to resume his training. 

The door to the basement gym burst open and Lydia came striding through. Never let it be said that the girl didn’t have presence. She commanded everyone’s attention every time she walked into a room. It was only Stiles in the gym at the time but nevertheless. 

“Stiles, come on. It’s time for lunch. Then I’ll spar you?” She glared at the boy playfully, challenging him to continue their competition. The three of them had a running tally of who won the most matches. Currently the standings were Stiles: 42, Lydia: 50 and Allison: 63. 

Stiles struggled with his stamina and speed. He was far more used to fighting with magic on his side, but the two girls would never let him use his powers in their competition. Stiles was not gifted with fighting skill, but he was definitely improving, just at a slightly slower rate than Lydia and Allison. It was not like he lost every match, at least not anymore. 

Stiles nodded his head in a response to Lydia’s question, too tired to reply in any other way. They walked up the stairs together, with the redhead beginning the traditional pre-match trash talk. It was all in good spirit and the banter between the mage and the banshee was always interesting. Both of them possessed sharp tongues and a gift for sarcasm. Allison always found their verbal matches just as entertaining as their physical ones. 

As the two of them walked into the kitchen, a delicious aroma wafted into their faces. Whatever Allison had made for lunch smelled amazing. The kitchen was painted a warm honey gold colour as the windows let the sun stream into the room when it rose in the morning, making the walls glow a beautiful colour. They had a wide and spacious kitchen with the dining room attached to it as well as the living room. 

It’s safe to say that Lydia was a big fan of open living space. There were barely any walls on this floor of the house.

Allison stood at the counter, ladle in hand, serving out bowls of chowder that she had made. The brunnette was normally a pretty awful. Let’s just say that Allison was good at most things but cooking was not one of them.The three of them quickly figured out that if they wanted to live, they should never let the banshee anywhere near an oven or stove. 

 

This was with the exception of soup and chowder. The hunter would find a way to burn everything else but she made excellent chicken and sweetcorn chowder. They sat around the breakfast bar, laughing and talking as they ate. 

There was a sharp rap on the wooden door, interrupting their lunch. Sliding in his socks against the wooden floorboards, Stiles came to the door and swung it open with a wide grin on his face. At the sight of the person on the other side of the door, his grin faded very quickly and he slammed the door shut, refusing to believe what he had just seen. 

As his breathing quickened, his chest began to tighten when he heard his voice through the door. He ran his shaking hands through his hair frantically as Stiles’ heart began to beat faster.

“Come on Stiles. Open up.” He wasn’t asking. He was demanding. The bastard still thought that he had control over Stiles, that he was still a weak little human who stood no chance against the big bad wolf.

Well he was gravely mistaken.

“Not gonna happen, Derek.” 

Stiles was proud of how strong his voice was when he called to the man on the other side of the door. At the sound of his name, the girls sprinted into the hallway, Allison clutching a knife and a gun and Lydia’s hands glowing with power waiting to be thrown at that bastard.

“What. The. Fuck.” 

Allison’s furious hiss summed up their current situation pretty well. Lydia stormed towards the door, determined to give the man on the other side a piece of her mind. 

“Listen here, Derek. You’re used to getting everything you want with a simple narrow of your eyebrows because everyone seems to think that you are God’s gift to werewolves or something. But I can tell you right now, that no matter how much you whine, glare, pout, howl, whatever, there is not a chance in hell of us opening this door. Capische?”

Lydia’s hazel eyes narrowed at the door, waiting for his answer. 

“Hello Lydia” Came the calm, deep voiced reply.

“Oh, fuck you” the redhead stormed away, pissed and knowing that sooner or later, he would get into, whether or not they opened the door. More than anything, the girl wanted to keep her friends safe and Derek had already done than more enough to help break Stiles. The pieces were just beginning to come back together and the werewolf was threatening to smash them all up again just by being there.

“Open the door. I just want to talk, check how you are doing.”

“Not until hell freezes over” Came Stiles reply.

The three heard Derek’s sigh of frustration through the door. 

“Derek. Please leave. We are asking politely to get off of our property, but we will use force if necessary. Kindly leave.”

Allison’s cool and calm exterior was betrayed by her shaking hands, but her voice didn’t falter.

“We will only warn you once.”

“And so will I. Stiles let me in or I will break this door down.”

Stiles’ hands were now shaking uncontrollably and he could hardly breathe. His vision was blurry and dark around the edges. Derek’s voice was muffled and he could barely feel Lydia’s arms wrap around his shaking body.

“Just go away, Derek.”

It was barely a whisper and his voice broke on the last word, but Stiles knew that he had heard him loud and clear.

The only answer that he got was the solid thud of a grown man’s shoulder against a wooden door. The three of them only needed a single shared glance to communicate their plan - make their way into the hidden bunker in the forest and call Cora. Once Stiles was ok, and if the bastard was still here then they would deal with him. But at the moment, Stiles was in no state to even see him let alone talk to him. 

They made their way out of the house silently, with Stiles attempting to muffle his short gasping breaths with his sleeve. With Lydia’s arms supporting his body, the three of them crept out of the back door and made their way stealthily to the edge of the forest. Allison checked for any signs of Derek or anyone he would have with him, but she saw nothing. 

 

Allison’s POV - Littleton, New Hampshire

 

After a minute or so of stumbling through the dim woods, attempting not to trip over any of the thick roots hidden by dead leaves. Lydia’s foot clanged against the metal of the bunker entrance and she ushered Stiles and Allison inside quickly. Then the redhead activated the traps that surrounded the hideout and made sure that no one would be able to spot the bunker from any distance. 

Once everything was safe and checked out, Lydia ducked inside. Stiles was curled up on the bed, burying his head into Allison’s warm chest, his body shaking with muffled sobs. The hunter let the boy wear himself out with crying for a little bit as Lydia paced the inside of the bunker furiously.

Stiles’s phone began to ring and Allison answered it. 

“Hey Cora,” she answered wearily. 

“Allison.” The Hale sounded happy to hear the brunnette’s voice. 

“We have a situation here Cora. Stiles is freaking out.” 

“And why do you think that I would be able to help?” The girl’s voice was higher than normal and slightly shaky, a clear indication that she knew exactly why she would be able to help.

“Did you really think that we didn’t know? Lydia and I know that Stiles and you both get panic attacks. We don’t think any less of you, so you don’t have to worry about that. I know that you like to appear strong to everyone else, even when you’re not. Your secret is safe with us.”

Cora breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you” 

“Anyway, as soon as we discovered that you two got panic attacks, Lydia and I read up on how to calm someone down and help them deal with them. We didn’t tell anyone else because that is your decision. Stiles knew that we would be here for him if he needed us, but he came to you for this. That’s fine, you two have always been close. Well, at least since you let him grow close to you.”

“The thing is Allison, you won’t have to spend long calming him down.” Cora sounded nervous. 

“Why?” The hunter asked curiously

“Because Isaac, Erica, Boyd and I are about 5 minutes away from your house in Littleton.”

Allison sighed. 

“Come round the back. We are in a bunker in the forest. Lydia will find you. See you soon.” Allison hung up on the Hale. 

She looked at her girlfriend. “So it turns out that Isaac, Cora, Erica and Boyd have found us. They are five minutes away.”

“We knew this would happen.” Despite her words, the red head began to pace faster than before, obviously still apprehensive of what could happen when the others finally found us after over a year. 

Allison ran her hand through her hair anxiously. “They didn’t mention Scott. I don’t think that they brought him.”

Lydia snorted. “Good. I would seriously doubt their intelligence if they thought bringing him would be a good idea. I’m going to go and find them. Otherwise they will never find the bunker and even if they did, the traps would stop them pretty quickly.” 

Allison got up and pulled her girlfriend into a kiss. “I swear if Derek finds you and even thinks about touching you -” She mumbled against the red head’s lips before the other girl pulled her even closer, effectively shutting her up. They soon pulled away, knowing they couldn’t get too caught up right now. 

“He doesn’t stand a chance against me anymore. He may have enhanced reflexes and strength but I doubt that he still has the upper hand against us.”

“True.” Allison chuckled. “Don’t kick their asses too hard. They didn’t leave with us but they obviously don’t agree with Scott.” She then sat back down on the bed and took the boy into her arms. He curled into her, still shaking and sobbing. His world was crashing down around his ears.

Lydia knew that she was referring to Cora and the others so she just nodded before leaving the bunker. Stiles had been seriously affected by their choice to stay in Beacon Hills despite knowing that it was the right decision. He had grown quite close to all of them, with the exception of Boyd. The other boy wouldn’t let anyone except Erica try to befriend him. But Cora, Isaac and Erica had been some of his best friends and although he knew that they were better off in California than with him and the girls, he could help but hurt when he felt their absence more sorely than usual. 

For example, when he had just had a bad dream, Stiles would call up Isaac and talk to the curly haired boy for hours, wishing that he could have more than just his voice. That he could curl up in the taller boy’s arms in one of the blanket and pillow forts that they used to make together when they were too scared of their nightmares to sleep. And then some nights, his phone would ring and it would be Isaac on the other end in tears, having just woken from a terrible nightmare. 

Stiles had missed them all so much over the past year but he was now closer to the girls than he had ever been. And the mage thought that he had managed to hide his feelings from Lydia and Allison, but they knew everything. 

Allison had heard him in the middle of the night, whispering on the phone. Lydia had seen him cower in a dark corner during a panic attack, thinking that he couldn’t be seen. But it was Stiles’ choice to share these things with them so the two girls had decided that neither of them would push the matter. The boy would share it with them when he was ready and comfortable. They couldn’t force him to tell them anything. 

Of course they were worried and kept an eye on him but they didn’t tell him what they knew and force him to tell them why he kept in contact with the others in Beacon Hills.

The door to the bunker swung open and Lydia ushered Cora, Isaac, Erica and boyd through. For a second, Allison just looked at the small group and took in all the ways that they had changed. 

Isaac’s hair was cut shorter than it had been when they left. It was now in a stylish quiff, long on the top and shaved close on the sides. It suited him. The boy had also grown taller, his limbs were longer. But he still stood and moved with grace and control. He looked pale, though, and tired

Erica looked pretty much the same. Dark lipstick, leather jacket, curled hair. But now her skin looked paler and she had dark circles under eyes that lacked the sparkle that was there when they left.

Boyd seemed to have put on even more muscle. His style had changed. He no longer hid behind large sweaters and jackets. He wore a tight shirt underneath a leather jacket and black jeans. 

Cora’s hair looked longer than ever, as well as a shade lighter than it used to be. She looked exhausted, with dark bags underneath dull green eyes. She seemed thinner than when the three of them left, and it was obvious that she hadn’t been taking care of herself.

Allison simply rose from the bed and gestured Cora to sit next to Stiles, before gathering Isaac, Erica and Boyd in a group hug. She had missed them all so much and she hated having to hide from them. They were only running from Scott, but they could never tell them where they were in case Scott overheard something. It had been hard without them, as being in the McCall pack had brought them all closer together, creating friendships and pack bonds that would be nearly impossible to break. 

Just seconds after the hug was over, the bunker door started to rattle from an impact. Fists pounded on the metal door, causing Stiles to whimper. Cora attempted to soothe him, rubbing his back and telling him that everything would be fine; that he just had to focus on one thing in the room. The door began to buckle, shocking Allison and Lydia and causing them to usher the others further into the bunker. 

Suddenly, everything went very quiet. Tension was thick in the air, and the group all exchanged glances. Stiles seemed to have calmed down and was sitting on the bed, his hands clenched around the bed frame. Slowly he raised his hands, lighting them on fire. The boy nodded at Allison and Lydia. In unison, the two girl whipped out their weapons. Allison’s bow was loaded and ready and she had a sword in a sheath on her hip. Lydia’s hands were glowing with power. The newcomers looked at the group in shock, taking in their determined faces. It was clear that they had done this before.

Without warning, the door fell away, ripped off of its hinges. There stood a man, panting and covered in sweat. His olive green t shirt was soaked in sweat and his dark hair was longer than the last time they had seen it. It was clear that he hadn’t shaved in awhile.

There came a gasp of surprise behind the three who wore bitter, determined expressions.

Cora’s voice broke and shook slightly as she uttered a single word. 

“Derek?”


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the unexpected break between the last chapter and this one. My wifi has been down for a while so I couldn't update. But here is Chapter Nine.

There was a deathly silence in the bunker, with only Derek’s panting filling the air. He jumped down with a thud, his bulky combat boots clanging against the metal floor of the bunker. Derek lumbered up to Stiles with a determined expression on his face, only for Stiles to back away fearfully. 

The younger boy scrambled backwards and was drawn into Lydia’s arms. The redhead ushered the boy to the bed before moving herself in between the werewolf and the mage. Allison turned to the betas and gave them an apologetic but firm look.

‘I’m sorry, guys, but you need to go. Just go to the house and wait ok. We just need to sort this out.’

It took a lot of persuading but eventually Allison and Isaac managed to make Cora leave the bunker, with her staring at her older brother in shock the whole time. Her whole world had shattered, come down around her ears, burning. 

She had come to terms with her brother’s betrayal but was comforted by the fact that she would never have to see Derek again. Made her peace with the fact that her older brother had left them when they needed him the most; when Stiles had needed him the most.

And now he turns up in a moment that should have been good for them. As soon as they found The Three, Derek turns up to ruin everything. Obviously the werewolf had been tracking The Three, just like the betas had been.

Soon it was just Allison and Lydia standing between the brunette mage and the werewolf, wearing matching determined looks on their faces, their weapons still drawn from when Derek was breaking into their supposedly secure bunker.

‘How the fuck did you get in here, Derek? We had set traps that were supposed to keep the unwanted out of here. So explain how the hell you are standing in front of us right now. And while you’re at it, explain what the hell you are doing in Littleton!’ Lydia demanded, her voice steadily rising as she grew angrier. Allison placed a warning hand on her shoulder, telling her to calm down and regain control. Telling her not to let him get the better of her. 

‘I came for Stiles.’ Derek said simply.

“That is not a fucking explanation.’ Allison said in an ice cold voice. She gave up all hope of trying to keep the situation peaceful. Derek had never been very easy to negotiate with and he seemed determined to make the situation far worse by not telling them what he was doing there.

‘Where were you?’ a low and quiet voice came from behind the girls, breaking slightly and cracking due to the overwhelming emotions that filled Stiles.

‘I’m sorry. I never should have left. Especially not after what you told me.’ Derek stepped forward with a hand out, trying to prevent the girls from attacking. 

‘Stiles? What did you tell him?’ Allison asked the boy in a calm voice, concealing her anger and frustration caused by the presence of the werewolf who ruined their pack’s lives before Scott sent everything to hell.

‘I figured out that Derek and I are mates. I told him before he left Beacon Hills. He said that he didn’t care. That he would never love someone like me. I didn’t tell anyone else.’ Stiles voice wavered and he looked up at the hunter with a vulnerable, broken look in his golden eyes. ‘He was ashamed of me, Ally.’

‘No’ there came strong expression of denial from Derek at Stiles’ last sentence.

The amber eyed boy looked at the werewolf in surprise and curiosity. Derek approached the younger boy slowly as he spoke.

‘I was never ashamed of you Stiles. You are the strongest, smartest person I know. I was a fool to leave the pack and I was even stupider to ever leave you. But you have to understand that I had good reasons to.’

The werewolf looked at the boy with hope in brown eyes. He thought that Stiles would now forgive him. He was so very wrong.

The younger boy stood up slowly, his head bowed. When he lifted it fury, anger and resentment burned in them. His sharp features were contorted into a vicious scowl. Stiles’ hands glowed electric blue with his magical power, waiting to be used against the man in front of him.

‘You don’t get to say that to me. You don’t get to tell me things like that, expecting us to just forgive you for leaving us when we needed you. And you certainly do not get make excuses for what you did.’

Derek backed away in fear of the young man before him. 

‘St-Stiles, please’ he stuttered. He bumped into Allison and Lydia, who stood in front of the entrance to the bunker with steely cold looks on their faces. The werewolf fell to his knees.

‘You’re not the most powerful anymore, Derek. We are. We have spent so long on our own. You cannot even imagine the hell we have been through.’ Allison spat at the young man. He had never had any respect for her. She could understand that she was an Argent but he treated her that way because she was human. Derek had treated Stiles and Lydia the same way up until he left. Although Lydia was an banshee and very powerful, he saw her as inferior. This was why Allison had such a strong distaste for him. 

And he was just a dick. All the time. To literally everyone. Just less so to werewolves. 

Derek’s expression hardened at Allison’s word and he stopped shaking in fear. He replaced his scared expression with one of disbelief and outrage. 

‘What you’ve gone through? Please. Have you ever fought an Alpha before? Imagine fighting -’

‘A whole pack of them? Yeah, we have. Several times. In fact we are the group who killed the leader that was Deucalion's predecessor.’ Lydia glared down at Derek. ‘You always treated the three of us as inferior, Derek. Banshee, human, hunter. None of that mattered to you, because you always thought that if we were not werewolves then we were not worth your time, let alone a place in the pack.’

‘But now,’ Stiles continued, ‘We are more powerful than you could ever imagine.’ At the look of scorn on Derek face, Stiles raised a single eyebrow. ‘You don’t believe us. Oh Derek.’ Stiles shook his head. ‘On my own, I am a mage, the most powerful being that the supernatural world has seen for centuries. But with these two, we rule the supernatural world. Ever heard of The Three? Those assassins that have been taking down every immoral creature known to man? That’s us.’

Derek blanched, paling at the information and realising what a massive mistake that he had made. Both now and years ago, when he left his mate, his pack and Beacon Hills. 

‘Yeah. The huntress, the banshee and the mage. Also known as The Three or alternatively, Team Human-ish. Stiles, Lydia and I have trained harder than you can imagine, and fought more battles than we can count. We have more scars than we can see, because we, unlike you, have been saving people since we decided to leave the pack. We have been following and apprehending the Alpha pack since we left Beacon Hills. We have dedicated years to wiping out the truly evil among them and saving the misguided ones. In only a few months, we will have completely defeated them and the threat that they pose. Meanwhile, you, the great, mighty Alpha, have been sulking.’ Allison finished.

Derek had the decency to look ashamed when he realised that exactly how arrogant he was being in thinking that he had done more to defeat the Alpha pack than the Three had.

“Stiles. I made a mistake. Please, just give me another chance.”

The older man was on his knees at Stiles’ feet, begging for the amber eyed boy to give him another chance.

“I’ve spent too long wondering what could have happened, Derek. Spent too many nights thinking about what we could have had together. You lost your chance. But I’ve also spent too long hating and resenting you for what you did. For walking away. I’m tired of having your decisions weighing me down. I don’t forgive you, but I can’t hate you anymore.”

A relieved expression settled on Derek’s face, but that was before Allison stepped forward. 

“Just one thing, though. I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.” and at those words, the brunnette hunter slapped the werewolf around the face, with the ech resounding around the bunker. The man came away with a red hand shaped mark on his cheek whilst the three humans wore looks of satisfication and triumph. 

“Okay, I’m done.” Allison walked away, dusting off her hands before wrapping her arm around her petite girlfriend’s shoulders. Lydia leaned into Allison instinctively, taking comfort in the warmth and presence of the taller girl. 

Derek’s POV

When Stiles told him that he no longer hated him for what he did, Derek felt like the weight of the enitre world had been taken off of his shoulders. He automatically straightened up and his whole demeanor brightened. For the first time in years, Derek didn’t feel like the consequences of the mistakes that he made were following him and hauting every day of his life. He finally felt free. 

One day, he would find a way to fix all of this. Stiles was his mate and his forgiveness would make everything better, he was Derek’s whole world. He swore to himself in that moment, that he would keep fighting for Stiles and find a way to fix all the broken pieces of what they once were and what they are supposed to be. Everything had shattered the day that he left and he would take it all back if he could, all in a heartbeat. 

Derek knew that it would take the golden eyed boy more time to forgive him. There was no way that a boy as loyal as Stiles would forgive abandonment and betrayal so quickly, no matter who it was from. But he was willing to do anything, work himself to the bone if he had to, to get his trust back.

‘One day, soon, everything’s going to be the way it should’ Derek murmured out loud. 

Stiles POV

The vibrant and bright lights left streaks in Stiles’ eyes and he could still see them when he blinked. They cut through the dark room, giving everything a tinted hue and making everything glow. The club was full of sweaty bodies all dancing to a track that echoed throughout the building - one with a loud bass and beat and not much else. 

Stiles lost himself in the crowd of bodies, a drink in his hand that sloshed over the rim of the red solo cup and all over his hand. Through the haze that had descended over his vision, he could see a guy approach. A guy with green eyes and a blinding smile. Touseled brown hair that was stylized in a curly quiff. The mystery guy was clad in a tight black t shirt and black jeans that showed off his many assets. 

The golden eyed boy may have been tipsy but he could still flirt. He sent the guy a suggestive smirk along with a strategic eyebrow quirk, daring him to come closer. Then he began to weave his way, slowly mind you, through the crowd, making sure the guy followed him. Stiles chuckled to himself. The guy was eating out of the palm of his hand. 

He found himself next the bar and the guy trapping him there with a smile. Stiles whispered some breathy suggestive line into his ear over the deafening music, leaning in to his chest and putting his hand all over his body. The guy nodded with a smitten look in his eye and allowed Stiles to lead him to a new room in the back of the club.

As Stiles let himself become wrapped up in the mystery guy, all thoughts of Derek disappeared from his head. He wasn’t thinking about the look on his face when he told him that he didn’t hate him. The club and the guy had served it’s purpose; sent any thought of the werewolf with amazing cheekbones into a dark crevice of his mind that he avoided at all costs.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I have not been updating for a while. I've had a lot of stuff that has taken up a lot of time that I previously had free to write. So updates might be erratic but I'm not stopping this story. Again, apologies for the overdue update

Cora POV 

She sat at the kitchen counter, the clock ticking away the seconds in the background monotonously. Her hands, wrapped around the mug of coffee that had been placed in front of her half an hour ago, shook with shock. Her eyes were blank as she stared straight ahead, her thoughts, however, were racing, thinking over every little thing she was going to do to her older brother, like killing him before resurrecting him and doing it all again. 

Her eyes focused on the walls of the kitchen that she sat in. Team Human-ish, as those three idiots seem to be calling themselves now, had painted the walls a brilliant golden colour and despite the bright sunlight that streamed into the room through the windows, the walls seemed as dull and plain as white ones. The most beautiful things now seemed lifeless. 

Just as Cora had moved on, started dealing with her problems and functioning the way she should be, Derek comes out of nowhere, delivering a vicious shock to her system. She felt immobile, sluggish and useless. But she just couldn’t understand any of the situation that she found herself in. How did this happen? How was she on the other side of the country, without Scott and with her brother a mere 100 metres away?

As though cotton covered them, Cora’s ears caught Isaac’s voice close by, obviously whispering to Erica.

“How long should we wait before getting Stiles? He’s always the one to help her through things like this.” 

Deep inside her, Cora felt a jolt of pain at the distress and concern that bleed through the tall boy’s words, only worsened by the slam of pain at the words that followed from Erica.

“I don’t know, Isaac. I wish there was something we could do. Why is everything falling to pieces? I hate feeling so helpless, and I’ve felt like this since the three of them left Beacon Hills.”

With a slam that shocked her out of her stupor, the door leading into the kitchen burst open, hitting the wall behind it violently. In came Stiles, tears in his eyes and his fist clenched. He stopped short as soon as he saw Cora and the state that she was in. Pale skin, shaking hands and a vacant look in her eyes. 

Without missing a beat, Stiles slipped into the stool next to Cora’s and began to whisper quiet words of comfort into her ear. His warm arm slid around her shoulders and the girl practically collapsed into him. Her fists clenched around the fabric of his shirt as tears fell from her eyes whilst all the while Stile had a pained expression from seeing someone who meant so much to him, someone that he would do anything to protect, reduced to a weeping mess by the same man who rejected him and broke his heart. 

Isaac and Erica watched on in masked surprise. The Hale girl never let herslef show any sign of weakness to anybody apart from Stiles, so for them to see the normally emotionally reserved girl break down right before them, was a bit of a shock, to say the least. 

But their surprise did not compare to the amount of sadness in their eyes. Both Isaac and Erica had grown closer to the brunette in the absence of Allison, Lydia and Stiles. 

Isaac, Erica, Cora and Boyd had to rely on each other as it was clear that they were all they had, as with the loss of some of his best friends, Scott became more unreasonable and stubborn. It was clear that the Alpha could see the error of his ways and knew that it was his fault the he was without Stiles, but he refused to believe it. He took out his anger and frustration on those around him, causing a rift to form between the people that stayed. 

Without warning, the door to the kitchen flew open for a second, banging against the wall yet again, scratching the paint away and most likely, denting the wall underneath the gold paint. Stiles’ head whipped around in fury, about to tell whoever had just burst into the room, that Cora needed to be left in peace, but his anger was immediately even worsened by the sight of who had come in. Derek stood there, still shaking from anger and fear, but he paled at the sight of his sister.

Cora had a calm look on her face, but her entire body shook with suppressed anger. She glared at the man who stood before her, who looked exactly the same as the man who abandoned every single one of them and never made any attempt to contact them again. Derek hadn’t changed at all, still clad in a plain t shirt, a leather jacket, jeans and his combat boots. His hair was shorter than before but otherwise he was identical to the man he was before. 

She rose steadily, her fists clenched. Her voice was low and filled with anger, frustration and sadness when a single question left her lips.

“What kind of man leaves his pack?”

She then took a step forward, causing Derek to begin to scramble away from the girl before him, filled with fear and regret at what he done. Those emotions were clear in his eyes, but at that moment, Cora didn’t give a crap what he felt. Emotions didn’t change anything

“What kind of man leaves his mate?”

Her voice rose in volume, filled with anger for her friend. Cora knew that Stiles broke after Derek left him, and that filled her with fury. But then her voice quietened to barely a whisper brimming with pain, sadness and frustration

“What kind of man leaves his sister?”

At that, Derek opened his mouth, about to say something, excuses probably, but then Cora exploded, filled with too much emotion to keep inside. 

“Why, Derek?! After I came back to help you with your pack, after I agreed to stay with you in a place that had brought more pain to me than anywhere else in the world, where I had to watch our family burn to death, hear their screams of pain and feel the loss of everyone I ever loved. After I agreed to leave my pack because you needed me. I did so much for you, Derek. I don’t consider you family anymore. Because the man standing in front of me right now is not the brother I once knew and loved.” 

Cora looked at Derek with tears running down her face, looking at the ashamed and regretful expression on his face. But the show of emotion did nothing to calm the young Hale girl.

“Do you remember, back when we were just kids, whilst you were eight and I was six, I was absolutely terrified of storms? I couldn’t sleep whenever one happened and they would bring me to tears. And there was a night where it seemed like the rain would never end, it was coming down with such force. Lightning striked faster and more frequently than any storm I had ever seen and thunder rumbled in the air barely a second after each flash of light. I was crying, I was so scared. And then in came you. You wrapped me up in five fuzzy blankets and had enough hot chocolate with you to melt an iceberg,” 

Cora gave a sad chuckle at the memory. 

“You hugged me tight and told me that you would never let the storm hurt me, never let anything hurt me. That night, we didn’t sleep, we stayed up till dawn, talking and laughing because you made the whole thing a game. You kept me from thinking about how scared I was and ever since, I haven’t been scared of a storm because all I can think of is my big brother and how he promised he wouldn’t let it hurt me. That big brother, is not you.”

Her brother reached out for her arm, clearly not understanding how upset she was at the moment. 

“Don’t fucking touch me, you bastard,” she spat, her tone changed, suddenly more violent and dangerous. “You’re good as dead to me, just like the rest of the Hales. I don’t want to be related to a man who would leave the only family he has left, and his mate. If you think I am only angry on my behalf, you are gravely mistaken.” 

She shook her head with a look of fury on her face. Cora showed no signs of running out of ammunition to hurl at Derek

“Not only did you hurt me, but my friends and my pack as well. That is unacceptable, and if you thought that we would let you back into our lives just like that, then you’re stupider than I thought. We don’t need you anymore, Derek! You lost your chance with Stiles, with all of us. I’m not saying that we won’t ever let you back into our lives but you’ll be fucking lucky if we did.”

“Cora, please.”

“What kind of brother leaves his sister to fend for herself once and then does it again a few years later, after promising not to? After the fire, I needed your support and you left me. Then, the whole pack needed you and you left all of us. If you want another chance to be any kind of mate, pack member or brother then you will have to prove to each and every one of us that you can be trusted and relied upon. Never again will I let you hurt me or anyone else like that again.” 

With those last words spat at the man before her, Cora stormed out of the kitchen into the edge of the woods, where Alison and Lydia were waiting with open arms. Despite the amount of time without either one of them, Cora immediately collapsed into their arms, worn out emotionally and physically. The two of them had heard the entire exchange between the Hales

Their house really was not soundproof, and with the amount of yelling about the supernatural and strange happenings in and around their house, it was a good thing they lived on the outskirts of town.

Isaac’s POV

Silence fell over the group in the kitchen after the door closed behind Cora, with Derek being glared at by all the other occupants of the room. Erica stepped forward with a scowl on her face and venom in her words.

“Leave, Derek. Leave this house, but if you really want to rejoin the pack, don’t even think about leaving town. If you do, you’ll be throwing away the slim chance that you have.”

Her words were cold and hateful, but Isaac knew that after seeing him again after all this time, it would kill Erica if Derek abandoned them again. He used to be such a beacon of hope for her, the man who saved her from the only thing holding her back; her epilepsy. Before he came around, the blonde had lived a pretty lonely life but Derek had given her friends and a new life when he gave her the bite. 

Isaac could imagine what his blonde friend was feeling as there was a turmoil of emotions inside him as well. When Isaac’s dad died and he was to blame, Derek helped him through the guilt and confusion. Despite the controversial methods he used, the Hale man showed them how to survive in this new dangerous world, filled with supernatural creatures ready to try and kill them, or at least beat them up a little.

Unfortunately, judging from the amount of scars that littered all of their bodies, the supernatural creatures normally succeeded.

Derek had provided him with a roof, food and a family. The pack were the only people he could rely on, the ragtag group of misfit teenagers brought together by the supernatural that he knew would always have his back. Without him, Isaac would have been alone in the world, confused, guilty and scared of himself and his new abilities. Truth be told, Isaac still sees his father in his dreams every so often, still was haunted by memories of the man who terrorised and tortured him for years, still terrified of the man who was supposed to love him no matter what. So it’s understandable that Isaac found Derek’s abandonment particularly hard. 

Isaac knew that Derek would have to do a lot to prove to Cora and Stiles that he belonged with them and they could trust him to not abandon them again. He wasn’t sure if he wanted him to succeed or not.

Sheriff's POV - Beacon Hills, California

Tears dripped down from his face into the glass clutched in his hands as he gazed at the worn, ripped picture in front of him. Stiles’ face beamed up at him, covered in dirt and mud, with his arms wrapped around Scott and the Sheriff. It was taken just after Scott and Stiles won their Little League baseball tournament, when they were eight. Their white uniforms were covered in dust and dirt but the smiles on their faces were brighter than ever. 

The two boys in the photo looked so happy and carefree. The sheriff sighed and took another swig of whiskey. Those two boys had no idea what life had in store for them. Back then, they had their entire lives in front of them but now they fought for survival every day. It killed him to know that he couldn’t do anything to keep his little boy safe.

From its place on the table next to the whiskey, his phone rang obnoxiously, the special ringtone for Stiles filling the room. Without realising it, the Sheriff’s face broke out into wide grin at the sight of Stiles’ name popping up on his phone. He quickley swiped right and help the phone up to his ear, all the while with an excited grin on his face.

But then his face fell at the sound of Stiles voice when he said a sombre hello. It wasn’t right. There was no excitement, no happiness in his voice. Something was gravely wrong. He had called the boy yesterday and he had been fine, happier than normal. So what could have caused such a drastic change?

“Son, what’s wrong? You know you can tell me anything - even your weird supernatural problems.”

Stiles let out a sigh, crackly over the static of the phone line. 

“Derek showed up, Dad.”

Sheriff Stilinski’s face contorted into a scowl at those words.

“That son of a bitch” he snarled.

“It’s fine Dad, don’t worry.” the boy let out another sigh, sounding exhausted. “We kicked him out of the house. Told him to prove that he could be trusted. Allison, Lydia and I may not be werewolves, but we are a pack either way and we are not going to let Derek break Team Human the way that he broke the McCall pack. None of this would have happened if Derek hadn’t left, and none of us are forgetting that anytime soon.”

“Good. Don’t let that asshole trick you into trusting him and keep me updated on everything. Anyway, I guess you’ve realised that some werewolves have left Beacon Hills?”

Stiles let out a chuckle, sounding happier than he did before, his spirits lightened by the subject of the betas. 

“And I bet that you had a part in convincing them to come?”

“You’re damn right.” The older Stilinski’s smile was evident in his voice. 

“Thanks, Dad. We really needed them,” Stiles voice went quiet for that sentence, and he sounded sincere. The sheriff could tell that the arrival of the betas really helped him and meant a lot to all of the Three.

“Is that the Sheriff?! Hey, Mr Stilinski!” Allison’s muffled voice came from the background of the call, making the older Stilinski laugh.

“Hey Allison!” He called back. Her laugh came in the background, mingling with Lydia’s. Those two genuinely seemed perfect for each other and Stiles said that they both were happier now that they confessed their feelings and got together. 

“I gotta go Dad. I love you though and I’ll talk to you properly tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure, son. Talk to you tomorrow.” The tone came from the other side of the phone after a few more goodbyes. 

The sheriff sighed and ran his hand over his face, taking another swig of whiskey. He looked back down at the table, where a sheaf of papers sat in front of him. The top sheet had Stilinski printed on it in large bold letters and below that, a description of the situation he was in. The other sheets explained the treatment, risks and consequences as well as potential upsides to the treatment.

The sheriff sighed once more before getting up and leaving the table, heading to his bedroom.

Stiles was going to freak when he found about his lung cancer.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mainly fluff and I don't know how great it is, but I tried so.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Allison’s POV

She woke up slowly, to soft breaths fluttering against her neck and warm arms wrapped around her stomach. As the redhead beside her shifted slightly, she brushed against the large, ugly scar in the middle of the stomach.

Memories flooded into her mind, the sharp dark blade of the Oni, the evil smirk that bastard twisted Stiles’ lips into, the panic she felt when she didn’t see Lydia before everything went dark. Then the relief when she woke up in the hospital two weeks later, with a sleeping redhead clutching her hand subconsciously.

Allison smiled as she looked at Lydia, with her hair spread out on Allison’s shoulder and her legs tangled with the brunettes. Slowly, the girl began to stir. She opened her hazel eyes and looked sleepily at her girlfriend. 

“Good morning,” Allison’s heart skipped a beat at Lydia’s raspy voice, and her grin widened as she kissed the redhead sweetly. 

“I’m going to go make pancakes. Do you mind waking Stiles today?” Allison rolled her eyes and smirked at Lydia’s words

“The things I do for you, Martin.” Her tone was full of fond exasperation as she stretched and go out of bed. 

“Only ‘cos you love me, Argent,” Lydia teased back, earning a smile and a kiss on the cheek. “Plus otherwise, you would burn the house down,” The redhead skipped away, laughing gleefully at her girlfriend’s cries of denial.

Allison rubbed a hand over her face as she approached Stiles’ door. Waking the boy up had never been easy. He had been through a lot of crap and he had revealed to the two girls that the nightmares he suffered from never stopped. He constantly relived Gerard's beatings, Derek’s abandonment, and the Nogitsune’s torture. Waking him up resulted in screams, tears and a lot of hugs.

The brunette crept into Stiles’ dim and unlit room. A small sliver of sunlight streamed through a gap in his midnight blue curtains but other than that, the boy’s room was gloomy. Stiles thrashed around on his sheets, his grey duvet tangled with his legs and his pillows halfway across the room. 

Softly, Allison padded over to Stiles bedside, her fuzzy sock clad feet making no sound on the floor of her friend’s room. Gently, Allison placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, trying both to calm him and rouse him. She sat on his bed and shook his shoulder, unwilling to wrap her arms around him in a hug until he woke, in fear of the boy feeling trapped and at risk, causing him to lash out. 

Stiles’ forehead was covered in sweat and it glistened, even in the dim light of his room. His hands were bruised from where they had struck walls or his bedside table in his sleep. When Allison began to shake his other shoulder, still very gently, he shot up, his arms lashing out at her. However, Allison was prepared for this and ducked quickly, but Stiles’ hand still glanced off her face, probably giving her cheek a nice bruise.

Eyes now clear, Stiles looked at his friend in horror, furious at himself for hurting her. She wrapped her arms slowly and gently around him and began to whisper words of reassurance into his ears. She rocked him back and forth, letting him wake up fully and realise that he was safe. In her head, Allison cursed every single person who ever hurt Stiles, as she saw what he had been reduced to. Normally, he was strong and funny, and now he was crying into her t-shirt.

“Alli, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you, it was a reflex. I can’t bel-” Stiles babble, his words rushed and thick with emotion, before she cut him off.

“Don’t worry. It’s ok. You’re safe now, we all are”

Allison kept reassuring him in the gloom of his room, wishing that he didn’t have to deal with everything. Wishing none of them knew about the supernatural, that they were all just innocent, normal people.

Lydia’s POV

The redhead padded down the stairs and headed into the living room to wake the new housemates they had found themselves with. Cora, Isaac, Erica and Boyd were all sprawled out, either on the couches or on the floor. The Hale girl had obviously commandeered a couch for herself and was spread out across it, mouth open and drool on her cheek. The others were in a similar fashion - Isaac curled in a ball on the floor, his hair wild. Erica and Boyd shared the other couch, with Boyd’s arm draped over the sleeping blonde snuggled into his chest. 

Lydia giggled at the sight before waking the betas up. Cora had woken with a start, immediately alert, causing the banshee to laugh again and tell her to get ready for pancakes. Isaac had simply refused to open his eyes, burrowing further into his sleeping bag and pulling his pillow over his head. 

Eventually, Lydia caved, looking at Cora pleadingly. The other girl sighed and violently threw her pillow at the Isaac-shaped mass on the floor. The boy sat up like he’d been electrocuted and looked around wildly before glaring at Cora. The girl looked sheepish and shrugged apologetically at the boy. 

Finally, the redhead made her way over to the two snuggled on the couch and decided to have some fun with this one. She tiptoed to the kitchen and walked over to the drawer full of miscellaneous objects - including an air horn. Lydia crept back into the living room, smirking at Isaac and Cora, before raising a single digit to her lips. Catching on, the two returned the evil smile and Isaac muffled his giggles. SIlently, the redhead approached the couch, the couple on it none the wiser to their plan. She raised the air horn directly above their faces and pressed down sharply. Erica and Boyd, shot up simultaneously and collided painfully. Laughing, the three fled the room, to escape their wrath. 

Still giggling, Lydia slid smoothly into the kitchen in her socks. She looked behind her to see the betas grumbling and pushing each other grumpily as they trooped after her tiredly.

“Okay,” She said briskly. “Who wants pancakes?” At that, all four of them immediately perked up, their moods lifted by the promise of Lydia’s amazing pancakes. 

Let’s just say that there was a reason Lydia worked for IHOP in Nevada. 

The four betas sat themselves down at the counter with minimal arguing. Cora scrolled mindlessly through her phone whilst Erica and Boyd started making out and Isaac used a spoon to attempt to fix his mess of hair. Lydia finished the first batch of pancakes quickly, setting the plate in front of the four of them, who were all wearing matching greedy expressions, along with the normal sauces and toppings: strawberries, nutella, banana, syrup, as well as lemon and sugar. 

Just as the redhead was starting on making the second batch of pancakes, Allison walked into the room, accompanied by the sound of Stiles stumbling down the stairs to reach the kitchen. He followed Allison in, looking bleary eyed with messy hair. He sat down next to Cora and stole half of the pancake on her plate, resulting in him receiving a smack on the head, but Cora then leaned into him anyway. 

Allison wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and nuzzled into the shorter girl’s warm neck. She giggled lightly, the tinkling sound bringing a smile to Allison’s face. The brunette pressed a kiss into Lydia’s cheek before pulling away. 

“How was he?” Lydia said lowly, not hiding their conversation but not yelling either. 

“Better than normal. No holes in the wall this time, but he did accidentally hit me in the cheek,” 

Lydia quickly inspected the bruise but saw that it was not serious and relented to Allison’s noises of protest. The brunette sighed, upset at the fact that Stiles was constantly in pain. The two girls looked at their friend and saw him laughing with Isaac and Cora about something but the joy did not reach his eyes. Since Derek came back, he had been acting more closed off with everyone. 

However, the arrival of betas had helped him, it was obvious that having Cora there especially would help him with his panic attacks and nightmares. Allison briefly wondered if the betas were planning on staying in town and if so, where they were going to crash. Of course, they didn’t mind having them in their living room, they were pack after all, but it was debatable how comfortable it was. She made a mental note to start looking for a bigger house. 

Allison looked at the tired, slumping forms at the breakfast bar and started making a few cups of coffee, receiving several grateful looks from the five people with faces covered in syrup, nutella or sugar. 

She then took a look in the cupboards for some cereal and made a face when she saw the absence of any food suitable for human consumption. Stiles sucked at throwing out expired food. Sighing, she swept the cupboard’s contents into the bin and went to get her leather jacket and shoes. 

“I’m going out to get some supplies. Does anybody want anything?” Allison tossed over her shoulder. She grabbed her purse as a shout of ‘milk, flour, sugar, chocolate and popcorn’ drifted out of the kitchen from Stiles. 

“Also, please don’t buy 10 boxes of Lucky Charms or Coco Pops!” Lydia shouted from the kitchen, receiving an evil cackle from her girlfriend, followed by the front door slamming behind her. 

Lydia just sighed and ran a hand through her tousled hair. 

Allison’s POV

She wrapped her leather jacket tighter around her chest as she came up to the 7-11 near their house and quickly checked her surroundings. As she strolled through the aisles she scrolled through her phone, looking for Lydia’s contact. Soon enough, the redhead was on the other end of the phone line. 

“What did you forget we needed this time?” The exasperated greeting made Allison wince, not realising she was this predictable. 

“What did Stiles want?” Her expression was sheepish - not that Lydia knew. 

“Jesus Christ, woman,” Stiles’ voice came from the background and Allison knew that he had thrown his hands up in mock despair. “And I wanted milk, flour, sugar, chocolate and popcorn. Also, you wanted cereal. Anything else?” This time it was Lydia’s voice in the background. Stiles had obviously snatched the phone from her grasp.

“No. Thanks man!” 

Chuckling, she shoved her phone back in her pocket and took a few boxes of Lucky Charms from the shelf. She scoffed, remembering her girlfriend’s words from before she left. Please, like Allison would ever eat that All Bran crap. Lucky Charms all the way. Just as she was putting the last of her boxes into her basket, she looked up, catching sight of a lone figure in the shadows. 

Derek.

The hand held the cereal tightened, ripping through the flimsy cardboard box and her other hand grasped the Chinese ring daggers hidden in her jacket. She glared at the man, who looked up suddenly and his eyes widened comically when he saw the brunette hunter send death glares from across the aisles. As she began stalking towards him - like a lioness approaching her prey - he scrambled away, abandoning his shopping and tearing out the door. 

Allison smirked in triumph but her face fell when she processed the situation. Derek was back. She had fully taken in that information yesterday, too caught up in helping Stiles and Cora deal with it. Now she was breaking down, but she hid it well. Straightened her back, fixed a smile on her face and sped through the shopping like nobody’s business. She was back at the house in record time, and walked through the door to see Isaac chasing Stiles through the house armed with pillows and silly string. Their laughter bounced off the walls. 

Giving a faint smile in their direction, Allison trudged up to her room, leaving the shopping by the front door. It didn’t take long for Lydia to find her, shutting the door and sitting beside her on the bed as soon as she saw the look on her face.

“I saw Derek at the shop.” Her voice was low and quiet but tinged with disbelief and shock. 

Lydia pulled the brunette into her arms, Allison collapsing into her chest immediately. She clenched her eyes shut tight as she buried her head in the soft fabric of Lydia’s sleep shirt, then realising that she had gone shopping in her pyjamas. But that fact didn’t seem as funny as it normally would, but the fact that she had frightened off Derek whilst dressed in bunny slippers and batman pyjamas kind of help her mood. 

The batman pyjamas were a present from Stiles last Christmas. She hadn’t worn any other pyjamas since. 

After a few minutes in Lydia arms, Allison straightened, and took a few deep breaths in an attempt to compose herself. But when she spoke, her voice was raw with emotion

“How could he leave us, Lydia? I nearly died for him, so many times, for all of his precious werewolves, and he still never gave me any respect. He was always ready to leave me, no matter how I tried to show him that I wasn’t like my family. Out of all the people in the world, why on earth did we get cursed with having to deal with him?!”

Lydia could only hold her girlfriend as she cried out all her insecurities, making a silent vow to never let Derek hurt any of her friends again.

Stiles POV

He bounded up the stairs, full of energy, but who could blame him? Stiles hadn’t even changed out of his pyjamas, let alone trained today, which never happened. Lydia always, always, made sure that all three of them kept to their training schedule and never strayed once. 

But she hadn’t even mentioned going down the basement or into the forest. Stiles certainly wasn't going to bring it up, thrilled with the possibility of a day off the relentless and unforgiving training regime he was put through by Allison. 

It was now coming up to seven o’clock in the evening, and Stiles had an idea. He raced up the stairs to find Allison or Lydia, and rushed into their room, only to groan loudly at the sight before him. This had to be the hundredth time that he had walked in to see Allison and Lydia kissing, or sometimes more. 

“Please learn to lock your door!” He yelled, throwing his hands into the air, causing the two to spring apart, Lydia with a wide, smug smirk on her face whilst Allison blushed profusely.

“Anyway,” Stiles immediately returned to the matter at hand. “I have a proposition.”

“Shoot,” Lydia said. 

“How about a pizza and movie night? We haven’t physically seen the betas in so long and if we want them in the pack, we need to bond with them more often, especially considering how close we three are now.”

“Good point, Stiles,” Lydia considered his idea for a second, before nodding. “Sounds good. I’m always up for pizza. Allison?”

“If you’re down, I’m down” she smiled down at the shorter girl before looking at Stiles suddenly. “But we call the big couch!”

“Not if I get there first!” Stiles raced out of the room, flinging the door closed in an effort to slow Allison down, only for the girl to kick in down and give chase. 

“Allison!” Lydia yelled after her.

“Sorry!” She flung over her shoulder before tackling Stiles to the floor and scuffling with him in the hallway. After a short fight, Allison gained the upper hand and pinned the younger boy to the floor, looking triumphant.

“I win,” She said simply, complete with a smug smile. Stiles huffed in exasperation and pouted like a spoilt child. 

“”Fine, you and Lydia can cuddle on the big couch,” Allison smiled at the boy’s words before helping off the floor and skipping into the living room, but not before sticking her tongue out at the petulant boy.

Stiles pouted once more at her back, before pulling out his phone and calling up the pizza place. 

“Hey Helen! Yeah, how are the kids?” He walked into the kitchen, on the phone to the worker on the other end. 

“Hey Stiles. I swear you order from her more than you guys cook! And the kids are good thanks! Daniel’s started learning how to ride a bike and Ella got her first swimming badge yesterday.”

“Whoa, no way! They grow up so fast,” Stiles fake-sniffed into the phone before saying, “Before you know it they’ll be off to college and getting jobs and dating” He teased lightly

“Ugh don’t remind me, I don’t want my beautiful children to be corrupted by the opposite gender. Anyway, should I tell Elliot to start your usual order?”

Stiles laughed. “Nah we’ve got some friends in town. So we will have three large pepperoni pizzas, and two large Hawaiian pizzas.”

“Geez, how many friends?”

“A few! Thanks Helen”

“No worries Stiles. They’ll be there in around about twenty minutes.”

“Thanks. Tell Elliot and Dana we all said hi, as well as the kids, yeah?”

“Sure, see you soon!”

Stiles shoved his phone back into the pocket of his pyjama pants. They had met Helen when they first came to Littleton, and were lost on how to blend in with Littleton being such a small town. Helen and her co workers at the Pizza Palace, Elliot and Dana, had taken the three of them under their wing for their first few weeks in Littleton. They soon got used to the town, and stayed good friends with the three co workers. Of course, not good enough to tell them the truth about who they were, where they came from and why they left, but good enough to let them know that they had a tough time in their hometown and decided to get away from it all.

Helen was a bit older than them and had two kids with her boyfriend, Edward, whilst Elliot and Dana were a couple together, the two of them around Allison’s age. 

“Pizza in twenty minutes!” He yelled up the stairs. Stiles wandered back into the living room, to see the main menu for Star Wars: Episode IV already loaded up, with Allison lying on the couch in her batman PJ’s scrolling through her phone. Stiles let out an excited squeak and launched himself at Allison, hugging her. She laughed at his antics.

“I figured that as we took the big couch, we’ll watch your favourite movie first. Also, now I can ask you to make popcorn without feeling guilty. So, popcorn?” 

His only reply was to tear out of the living room back into the kitchen to make the popcorn. Allison’s laughter followed him out of the room, and Stiles grinned. 

This was where he belonged. With his family, Allison and Lydia, and his friends, Isaac, Cora, Erica and Boyd. 

Then his phone rang, the caller ID showing it was his dad. Stiles grinned and answered brightly but his face fell when he heard his dad’s tone. 

“Stiles, I need to tell you something”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so seeing as I have made not only this chapter but this whole story pretty angsty and traumatic for the characters, I'm planning on starting a new story, a far happier one. It may not go up for a bit and it won't have regular, consistent updates, but it is in the works.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in upload, and apologies that this is more of a filler chapter than anything vital to the plot

Cora POV

The sun streamed in through a crack in the curtains, just hitting Cora’s eyes, making her blink awake. She sat up, yawning and stretching, popping her neck and back. She looked around the room to see the rest of her friends passed out all over the room, snoring, drooling and mumbling. Cora chuckled lightly at the sight, especially at seeing Isaac’s foot shoved into Erica’s face, but her face fell into a look of confusion when she noticed that Stiles was gone. It was unlikely that he woke up first, and even if he had, he would have pranked at least one of them. 

She padded out of the room, yawning widely, and going into the kitchen, grabbing a glass form the counter and filling it tiredly. In her pyjama pants pocket, her phone buzzed obnoxiously. She pulled it out to be greeted with a text from Stiles. It was short, simple and vague as hell.

All it said was, ‘meet me at the bunker.’ No explanation or other requests. Nevertheless, Cora prepared a mug of hot chocolate for the boy, knowing that it was likely that if he was awake before anyone else, that Stiles had barely slept and was probably going to break down. It was always good to be prepared and Stiles always like hot chocolate after a good cry. Meeting in the bunker seemed more obvious now, he hated showing any sign of weakness - as did she. 

She shoved on a pair of fuzzy grey slippers that she had found discarded in the middle of the living room floor, and crept out of the back door. She made her way to through the gloom of the forest, towards the secret bunker, nestled in a shadowy corner of the wood. Cora pulled her phone out again and checked the time - just past 9:00. 

The whole group had passed out during the fourth movie of the night - probably around 4 am. Cora had been one of the last to doze off, it had been just her and Stiles in the gloomy room, their faces illuminated in vibrant, psychedelic colours coming from the screen in front of them. Thinking back, Stiles had seemed subdued during the bonding night, despite it being his idea and being excited beforehand. 

What could have happened to change his demeanor in such a significant way in a matter of minutes?

Stiles POV - the night before

“Stiles, I need to tell you something,” His father’s voice was low and thick with emotion and nervousness. Stiles flopped onto one of the kitchen stools, sensing that whatever his father needed to tell him, he wouldn’t like it. 

“I went to the doctor the other day and, um,” the Sheriff took a single deep breath before continuing. “Stiles, I’ve got lung cancer.”

For a minute there was only silence coming from both ends, eventually broken by a deep sigh from Stiles.

“How serious is it?”

“Stage Two.”

“Damn”

“Yeah”

“You’re quitting the force right now, and you’re coming to Littleton to live with me.” Stiles’ tone was brisk and no nonsense. He expected resistance from his father, but he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Stiles -”

“No, Dad. You’re going through this alone. You’re the only blood family that I have left, I’m not losing you too. If you come here to live with us, we can keep you safe from the supernatural better than Scott ever could, you could have a regular doctor here and you would be with family.”

“Stiles, I can’t just quit the force-”

“Why, what’s stopping you?”

From the other end there came only silence, as the Sheriff thought out all of his options. After a bit of silence, he let out a deep sigh, knowing that it would eventually end up like this so there was no point acting otherwise. His son was a persistent boy after all

“Okay”

“So you’ll come out here? To live here?” Stiles voice was hopeful but wary, thinking that he would have to do a lot more to convince his father that this was the best option for everybody.

“Yeah, I’ll come out to live with you,” There was a hint of amusement in the Sheriff’s voice at the joy in his son’s voice.

“Great. Start packing your bags. I’ll drive down tomorrow. Is that good?”

“That should be fine, see you soon?” 

“Yeah. Get packing, old man.”  
Then Stiles voice went serious and he spoke very clearly into the phone. 

“You know I love you, Dad.”

His father’s voice was strong and happy when he said, “I love you too, son.” Then Stiles was met with the monotonous sound of the phone beeps. And that was when the world that he had spent years meticulously gluing back together fell down around his ears.

Stiles POV - The next morning

The bunker was dark but it was so quiet that the sounds of the birds and wind outside were clear to hear. Then there came the crisp and crunch of footsteps against dried fallen leaves on the forest floor. The door to the bunker swung open, to admit Cora, in thin cloth pyjama pants and a plain t-shirt and grey fuzzy slippers that Stiles was pretty sure belonged to Erica.

Stiles was sitting in the dark, enveloped in a warm blanket and shadows, his amber eyes gleaming in the gloom of the bunker. The bags under his eyes seemed bigger and darker than ever and he looked dreadfully tired. His skin was paler than ever and his hands never seemed to stop tapping, whether it be on a table or on the mattress that he was currently sitting on.

Cora approached him slowly, unsure of the state that he was in, and sat next to him on the mattress, causing a dip and making Stiles lean into her shoulder. She placed a gentle hand on his back and pulled him into her, rubbing small comforting circles into his back. The boy wasn’t crying but there was a vacant and blank look in his amber eyes, the faint sparkle she saw the previous evening having disappeared without a trace. 

“Cora,” His voice was weak and thin, croaky and thick. She hummed in response, waiting for him to continue. “My dad. He’s got, he’s got cancer, Cora.” 

Cora tried hard to mask surprise and sorrow that she reacted with, but the tensing of her shoulders and face gave her away. Stiles looked at her sympathetically and Cora understood why he had been so distant after he talked with his dad. There were much more important things than movies on his mind. 

Stiles didn’t have enough energy left in him to cry. He had spent so long falling apart and he had no sorrow left to give. The news of his father was killing his from the inside out but he didn’t have anything in him left to cry. Perhaps later, all the tears would rush ot at once, but for now everything was hollow and numb and empty. The two of them sat there, together in the gloom of the bunker for a while, until both of their phones pinged obnoxiously due to messages from the others, demanding to know where they were. Stiles got up, and began putting his hoodie and shoes back on over his pyjama t shirt and checkered pants.

As Cora looked at him there, with his back slumped as though the weight of the entire world rested on his shoulders, she realised that Derek and Scott had no idea just how much grief they had caused them all. She had seen the scars that the Three bore on their skin and she knew that not all of them had been obtained since they left Beacon Hills. And it killed her to know that in her absence, her friends had fallen apart millions of times and she had not been there to help pick up the pieces. 

Stiles POV

Sometimes, it was hard for him to not blame his former best friend for what his life had become. For the broken mess that he was now and the loss of the person that he could have been, had he remained ignorant to the supernatural world. But even in those moments of weakness, where he curse Scott or dragging him into a world where he didn’t belong, for making him the boy that ran with wolves, he knew that he wouldn’t give up the power that he had. The power that enabled him to help more people that he ever could have done as a normal person. But either way, he knew that this would have happened either way. Maybe not the same situation, or the same people, but he would be on the run, as someone else, using his powers to help those in need of it. Stiles was born with these powers, even if it was his puppy-like best friend that forced him to discover it in some not-so-pleasant ways.

 

Sure, the three of them had been on their own for a while and had to fight supernatural threats left, right and centre, but it was Scott that started it wall, led the ragtag group of misfits into battle after battle with the supernatural, brought people into a war that didn’t concern them. He made it their business and then proceeded to kick them out when they started fighting for him. Cora couldn’t help but think what might have been had Stiles, Lydia and Allison not become aware of the supernatural world. It was certain that Scott would be dead by now, as would the rest of the members of the McCall pack, past and present. Even if the True Alpha couldn’t see it, the human’s bravery, intelligence and skill were the reason that all of their hearts were still beating. 

It was clear that all of them - Scott and Derek included - had been broken beyond repair and bore the marks of the battles waged against both foes and friends. Every time that the thick and twisted scar on Allison’s stomach - caused by the Nogitsune - peeked out from underneath the hem of her top, Stiles winced and a sombre and sullen expression overtook his features. It was hard for him not to blame himself for the things that happened, for the suffering that they all went through. 

But it was the same for Allison, every time that she caught a glimpse of the scar on Lydia’s shoulder from a stray arrow let loose in a battle against some alphas, her thoughts whispered accusations against her, placing all the blame for Lydia’s pain on her shoulders. 

And there was a burn on Stiles’ knee caused by a fireball gone wrong that was cast from Lydia’s hand that the redhead couldn’t bear to look at. All of those injuries had been accidental but it didn’t change the pain that they caused. 

And there were so many more where that came from.

Allies that turned into traitors, trainees that were reckless and foolish, and of course, those who opposed their methods of ensuring the public’s safety from the supernatural. Almost every creature they had faced had claimed that they were hypocrites, battling and subduing their own kind. But the Three only met this accusations with stoic faces and stoney resolves. Sure, they were supernatural (ish) as well, but they were not a threat to the innocent people that they swore to protect. Their foes only had themselves to blame as they brought their deaths upon themselves

Stiles stumbled into the forest. Light streamed through the treetops, speckled spot of light littered the leaf covered floor. Together, the two of them made their way back to the house. When they entered the kitchen, they were met with the sight and smell of Lydia cooking bacon, sausages and eggs, with Isaac, Erica, Boyd and Allison wolfing down the food. Cora slid into the seat beside Allison whilst Stiles just went straight to Lydia and the frying pan. After receiving a full plate of food, he sat next to Isaac and ate his food quickly before announcing,

“My dad’s coming to live with us. I’m driving down to a train station where I’m meeting him today. I don’t know what we are going to do about rooms, but he’s coming to live here permanently.”

“Why?” Allison peered at the boy curiously.

“He’s got lung cancer. I won’t let him be alone or let work make his condition worse. Also, I want to see if magic can help him.”

Lydia gasped in shock at Stiles’ words and immediately went to his side, and wrapped him in a warm hug. Erica looked at the boy with a worried glance and Isaac wrapped an arm around his shoulders, whilst Allison followed her girlfriend’s example. 

After a quick shower and change, Stiles slipped on his shoes and grabbed his wallet before leaving the house and setting off on the long journey for where his father’s train would eventually stop. 

Once the door slammed behind him, Lydia’s expression went deathly serious and she turned to the other’s gathered around the breakfast bar. 

“Time for your training. We need to get rid of the Alpha pack once and for all.”


End file.
